‘MAXIMUM DISRUPTION’: British Protesters Vow To Make Trump’s June Visit ‘As Unpleasant As Possible’

President Trump will travel to the United Kingdom in June, where he’ll enjoy an official state visit and banquet with Queen Elizabeth II, before heading to France for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that led to the end of World War II.

Activists, though, plan to cause “maximum disruption” for the U.K. visit, Newsweek reports.

“It’s up to us, again, to say Trump is not welcome, and to make his visit as unpleasant as possible. We’re going to aim for maximum disruption,” Nick Dearden, of the Stop Trump Coalition, told Newsweek. Dearden helped organize London’s mass protests against Trump’s two-day “working visit” last year, and said plans are already underway to hold a “big demo.”

“I’d really hope his visit will become a magnet for all those who want radical climate action to be undertaken, because Trump, after all, is a symbol of climate change denial globally — one of the reasons we see him as one of the most dangerous men in the world at this time,” Dearden said.

On Tuesday, the Queen officially invited Trump for a state visit. The White House confirmed in a statement that that it had accepted the invitation.

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump accepted the invitation of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to visit the United Kingdom from June 3 to 5, 2019. This state visit will reaffirm the steadfast and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition to meeting the Queen, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May. While in the United Kingdom, the President and First Lady will attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, at one of the primary embarkation sites for the Allied operation that led to the liberation of Europe during World War II.

On June 6, the President and First Lady will then travel to Normandy at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic to observe the 75th Anniversary of D-Day at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. While in France, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Emmanuel Macron to reinforce continued close cooperation on our shared economic and security interests.

Trump and first lady Melania visited England in July 2018, but that was not considered a formal state visit, in which a royal banquet accompanies other events, including a military welcome. During that trip, Trump met with the Queen at Windsor Castle, had dinner at Blenheim Palace with Prime Minister Theresa May, received a royal salute from a Guard of Honor, and had high tea, which Melania also attended. But that visit was not officially hosted by the Queen.

Trump has had a mostly unpleasant relationship with the British. Nearly two million people signed a petition last year in an effort to block his visit. The petition, though, was rejected by the government, which said it “believes the President of the United States should be extended the full courtesy of a State Visit” and it “looks forward” to welcoming him “once dates and arrangements are finalised.”

Trump was set to attend the opening of the new U.S. embassy in London in February, but he canceled his visit, citing the “bad deal” behind the building.

“In the UK, in London, we had the best site in all of London. The best site,” he told supporters in April 2018. “Well, some genius said, ‘We’re gonna’ sell the site and then we’re going to take the money and build a new embassy.’ That sounds good, right, but you’ve got to have money left over if you do that, right?”

“They go out and they buy a horrible location. And they build a new embassy. That’s the good news. The bad news is it cost over a billion dollars,” he said. “By the way, they wanted me to cut the ribbon on the embassy and I said, ‘I’m not going. I don’t wanna’ do it.’ I said ‘I’m not cutting that ribbon.’ I said I’m not going.’’

Other groups plan to join in the protest, Newsweek reports.

A news release sent by the Stand Up to Trump campaign in Britain promised to “flood the capital with hundreds of thousands of protesters” when the president visits London. “Donald Trump is the world’s number one racist, warmonger and misogynist, with no solution to the global economic crisis,” Sabby Dhalu, a representative of Stand Up to Trump, said in a statement.

 

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