| Donald Trump baby balloon | |
|---|---|
 The balloon being flown inParliament Square in London on 13 July 2018 (Westminster Abbey is in the top left) | |
| Artist | Matt Bonner |
| Completion date | July 2018 (2018-07) |
| Medium | Plasticinflatable |
| Subject | Donald Trump |
| Dimensions | 6 m (20 ft) |
| ||
|---|---|---|
Business and personal
45th and 47th President of the United States Tenure
Shutdowns Speeches
Opinion polls Legal affairs
Impeachments   | ||
During an official visit to theUnited Kingdom in 2018 by U.S. presidentDonald Trump, an inflatable caricature of Trump (colloquially known as the Trump Baby or, less commonly, the Baby Trump)[1] was flown in protest of his visit, his history ofalleged sexual misconduct, his leadership style and hispolicies.[2]
The balloon was flown overParliament Square,London, on 13 July 2018, where thepolice estimate that over 100,000 protestors were in attendance,[3] and 50,000 more inthe Meadows,Edinburgh, the following day, where protests were also held.[4] Although Trump was not visiting Edinburgh, he was spending the weekend at hisTurnberry golf course,[5] but permission to fly the balloon there was refused byPolice Scotland.[6]
One of the organizers, Max Wakefield, described the balloon protest as being in response to "the rise offar-right politics that dehumanises people in order to get into power", and saw it as an attempt to introduce some "good British humour" into the political discourse surrounding Trump's visit.[7] Wakefield cited theTrump administration's family separation policy andTrump's withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement as examples of the kind of policies which the protest was targeting.[7] Leo Murray, who led the campaign, wrote in its crowdfunding statement:[8][9]
[When] Trump visits the UK on Friday the 13th of July this year, we want to make sure he knows that all of Britain is looking down on him and laughing at him. That's why a group of us have chipped in and raised enough money to have a 6 meter high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies over Parliament Square during Trump's visit.
The 6-metre (20 ft) tall,[10]helium-filled plasticinflatable, also referred to as a "balloon" or "blimp", was designed by Matt Bonner and constructed by Imagine Inflatables ofLeicester.[11] It was made after acrowdfunding campaign on Crowdfunder[12] raised the £16,000 cost of its creation and deployment.[6] It depicts Trump as "an angry orange baby"[2] with a snarling mouth,[13] tiny hands,[14] wearing adiaper,[6] and holding asmartphone.[15]
Wakefield said, "The only way that you can make any impact with Donald Trump is to mock him, because you can't engage him in any kind of argument — it never gets anywhere."[7]
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Permission from theGreater London Authority (GLA),Metropolitan Police andNational Air Traffic Service (NATS) was required for the balloon to be flown overParliament Square, the space above which is consideredrestricted airspace.[15] Permission was granted, allowing it to be flown, while tethered, up to 30 meters (100 ft) high, for up to two hours.[7][15] Both the GLA's 'City Operations' team and NATS stressed that the nature of the protest did not play a part on their decisions.[16]
After learning of the balloon, Trump remarked, "I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London."[17]
After its appearance in London, the balloon was taken to Edinburgh, where it was flown overthe Meadows, a public park near to the city center, as part of the protests against Trump's two-day-visit to Scotland,[18] permission to fly the balloon nearTurnberry golf course having been refused.[6] On 17 July 2018, the balloon was tethered outsidethe O2 Arena in London during a performance by the American rock bandPearl Jam, with their blessing.[19] Protesters planned to fly the Trump baby balloon in Ireland in November during Trump's visit to the country, however his trip was cancelled.[20]
Museums including theBritish Museum and theMuseum of London expressed interest in acquiring or displaying the original balloon.[21][22] In January 2021, the Museum of London announced that it had acquired the original balloon and intended to display it alongside other artefacts from the London protest.[23]
Ahead of Trump's state visit to the UK in June 2019,Sky News ran a commercial featuring the balloon.[24] The blimp was likely to be flown again during this visit, subject to permission from the Metropolitan Police.[25] Acrowdfunding initiative arranged for the blimp to fly if £30,000 were raised before Trump's arrival on 3 June 2019; this funding goal was achieved.[26] The Museum of London again said that it would like to exhibit the balloon.[27] The blimp flew at 9:00 am 4 June 2019 in Parliament Square, ahead of the main protest that congregated at 11:00 am in Trafalgar Square. A smaller balloon was prepared to be carried in the march. The smaller balloon was "stabbed with a sharp object" by Amy Dalla Mura, a pro-Trump supporter later that day; the woman was arrested and charged.[28][29]
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A group of activists in New Jersey raised nearly US$24,000 in aGoFundMe campaign to purchase Baby Trump balloons that they planned to fly overTrump National Golf Club inBedminster, New Jersey. Initially, they sought US$4,500 to purchase one balloon. Their fund raising was so successful that they were able to purchase six balloons in all. The balloons are available for "adoption" by groups for events in other states.[30][31][32] Copies of the "Baby Trump", sometimes referred to as the "babyblimp", balloon have appeared across the U.S. in Florida, Michigan, California, Chicago, New York and Washington, among other places.[33]
On 22 September 2018, a balloon was seen flying near Donald Trump'sMar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach at a rally to mark the anniversary ofHurricane Maria striking Puerto Rico.[34]
On 2 October, the balloon appeared at aSpokane, Washington, protest when Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Washington to support the reelection of RepresentativeCathy McMorris Rodgers.[35] Baby Trump made an appearance at a 13 October 2018, Woman's March rally in Chicago, Illinois. The march was organized to encourage female political activism leading up to the November midterm elections.[35] The balloon made its California debut at theLos Angeles Convention Center on 19 October 2018 during thePoliticon.[36] On 27 October 2018, the Trump balloon was flown in West Hollywood, California and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Grand Rapids co-organizer stated, "It's meant to be fun, but we're also making the point that this guy is dangerous and he's a little unhinged. We want to make the point that this administration is taking us down what we think is the wrong path and is threatening to democracy, to our moral standing in the world."[37] On 28 October 2018, the Baby Trump balloon made an appearance in New York City at an "Impeachment parade."[38]
The blimp appeared on 19 January 2019 at Los Angeles Women's March, and at a protest rally outside Trump's re-election campaign launch inOrlando on 18 June 2019.[39]
The balloon made an appearance during 4 July 2019Independence Day festivities at theSalute to America event on the National Mall. TheNational Park Service granted a permit for its use.[40] The balloon was seen at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con on 20 July.[41] It flew again on 21 September in Ventura, California.
The balloon appeared inLexington, Kentucky, outside of the city's courthouse on 4 November 2019 in protest of Trump's visit to the city.[42]
The balloon appeared inTuscaloosa, Alabama, for theNCAA College Football game between the #2LSU Tigers and the #3Alabama Crimson Tide on 9 November 2019 atBryant–Denny Stadium. President Trump attended the game while protesters flew the balloon at Tuscaloosa's Monnish Park. At that appearance the balloon was slashed by Hoyt Hutchinson. Hutchinson was taken into police custody.[43]
The balloon appeared inTulsa, Oklahoma, on 20 June 2020 to protest his rally there. It was the first time President Trump had hosted a rally since theCOVID-19 pandemic began to spread in the United States.[44]
The balloon appeared in Paris on 11 November 2018, at a march protesting about Trump's visit to attend the ceremonies of the 100th anniversary of the end ofWorld War I. Speaking to aCNN journalist, one protester said, "I think Paris should be protesting not only Trump's presence here, but also should be trying to send a message to President Macron for having invited him here, especially on the anniversary of the signing of the armistice."[45]
On 29 November 2018, the Trump Baby was flown inArgentina in protest during theG20 Buenos Aires summit.[46]
From London the blimp moved to Ireland, and appeared at 6:00 pm, on 6 June 2019, at the "Stop Trump Ireland" protest at theGarden of Remembrance, in Dublin. Permission was granted byIrish Aviation Authority.[47]
In preparation for Donald Trump's planned visit to Denmark in September 2019, a Danish campaign was launched to have the blimp transported to Denmark and flown during Trump's visit. Despite the visit being cancelled, the blimp still flew overKongens Nytorv inCopenhagen on 2 September 2019.[48]
On 30 August 2018, pictures of a balloon similar to that of Donald Trump's were circulated, this time depicting London's MayorSadiq Khan wearing a bright yellow bikini. The balloon, like the Donald Trump baby balloon, was crowdfunded after £58,000 was raised to create the blimp. Organizers, identified as Yanny Bruere, a 28-year-old sales manager fromNorthampton, known foranti-semitic tweets,[49] said "a certain amount of respect should be afforded to the leader of the free world and the greatest ally the UK has," and that the balloon was made "in retaliation" to the Trump balloon.[50] It featured Khan wearing a yellow bikini in response to the banning of a series of Protein World advertisements onLondon's public transport networks, which had shown a woman in a yellow bikini with the slogan "are you beach body ready?". The adverts were criticized for allegedly objectifying women and promoting unrealistic female body images. The adverts were eventually banned, with Sadiq Khan supporting their removal.[51] Khan commented, "If people want to spend their Saturday looking at me in a yellow bikini they're welcome to do so, I don't really think yellow's my colour though." A small crowd gathered to watch as the blimp flew over London'sParliament Square on 1 September 2018. It has made no further appearances.[50][52] The Sadiq Khan bikini-clad balloon was sold on eBay in August 2019 for £16,000.[53]
During Anti-Brexit protests in London on 20 July 2019, a giant balloon depicting the former mayor of LondonBoris Johnson was flown over Parliament Square. The balloon depicted Johnson with a pink-face and blonde spiky hair whilst wearing a white T-shirt with a red bus across the front with the words '£350m', in reference to the bus he used during the Brexit referendum campaign. He was also depicted wearing blue shorts with love hearts printed on them with the word 'Nigel' also printed across the front, resembling the Pro-Brexit campaignerNigel Farage. The "No to Boris, Yes to Europe" protest was against Johnson's view on Brexit and also against him becoming the nextprime minister of the United Kingdom.[54]
'There's really nothing positive to say about him', said James Rice, 24, a student who came to the protest in a wheelchair.
The petition: Make Trump Baby Fly. Donald Trump is a big, angry baby with a fragile ego and tiny hands. He's also racist demagogue who is a danger to women, immigrants and minorities and a mortal threat to world peace and the very future of life on earth. Moral outrage is water off a duck's back to Trump. But he really seems to hate it when people make fun of him. So when Trump visits the UK on Friday the 13th of July this year, we want to make sure he knows that all of Britain is looking down on him and laughing at him. That's why a group of us have chipped in and raised enough money to have a 6 meter high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies over Parliament Square during Trump's visit.
October 28: People take selfies as the baby Trump balloon rises in Battery Park as part of an 'Impeachment Parade' protest in New York City.
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