JD Vance's UK Visit Sparks Protests, Egg Meme Posters
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance's visit to the Cotswolds in the U.K. has sparked protests involving large images of the viral meme depicting him with a shaved head.
Vance, who arrived in the U.K. last week, is staying in the hamlet of Dean, after earlier visiting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Kent.
At least 50 protesters gathered in the Cotswolds, calling Vance "despicable" and telling him to "go home," according to local newspaper GloucestershireLive.
Newsweek has contacted Vance's team, via email, for comment.
Why it Matters
Vance's combination of family vacation and private political meetings underscore tensions in U.S.-U.K. relations. The Veep is one of several American politicians who have spoken out about concerns over free speech in the U.K.
Last week, Vance said he was worried about "our friends on this side of the Atlantic" following a "very dark path" with free speech. Vance has also previously called Britain the first "Islamist" nation with nuclear weapons.
Some Cotswolds residents have objected to his policies, public remarks and the disruption caused by his security detail, underscoring the polarized reception that senior U.S. officials can face abroad, even during ostensibly personal trips.
What To Know
Vance and his family are staying at Dean Manor, an 18th century country home in the hamlet of Dean in the Cotswolds.
A motorcade and security cordons restricted access to Dean and closed roads and footpaths, with local police checkpoints and sniffer dogs overseeing the perimeter.
At least 50 demonstrators gathered for a "Vance Not Welcome Party" in nearby Charlbury, where protesters displayed banners criticizing Vance and large images of a viral meme depicting the vice president with a shaved head.
Social media posts show the same image displayed on a truck and as a large billboard. The image went viral after reports about a 21-year-old Norwegian tourist being refused access into the U.S. because he had the image on his phone.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied this allegation, saying the tourist, Mads Mikkelsen, was refused entry "for his admitted drug use."
JD Vance said UK has no free speech….so this van is now cruising Cotswolds area waiting for his arrival where he's renting a $11K a week manor for another family vacation pic.twitter.com/XGMnwAADLc — Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) August 12, 2025
Activists in the UK installed a poster in the Cotswolds to greet JD Vance as he takes yet another family vacation pic.twitter.com/M5oHf2YMXP — Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) August 12, 2025
Organizers representing groups including the Stop Trump Coalition and Everybody Hates Elon staged the event after moving the planned demonstration to a park in Charlbury, and some attendees carried signs referencing Gaza and U.S. domestic policies.
Conversely, former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, a widely known British celebrity who lives in the Cotswolds, seemingly teased those complaining about Vance's disruption, when he posted a video of a peaceful Cotswold scene with the caption: "Utter chaos caused by Vance. How will we ever manage?"
Vance met Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent for talks that included a fishing outing.
The BBC reported that lawmakers from the country's Conservative party, Robert Jenrick and Chris Philp, attended a private meeting with Vance at the Cotswolds residence, and that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also met the vice‑president during the trip. Reform UK is a right-wing populist party that has adopted MAGA-style slogans and rallies and has similar policy positions to the Trump administration on issues like immigration and national sovereignty
What People Are Saying
Brian Murray, 65‑year‑old retired tour guide, told Reuters: "We want to show our feelings, hopefully some of it will get through to Vance and the American press and to Ukraine, so people know what we stand for."
Jonathan Mazower, Dean resident and head of communications for Survival International, told Reuters: "It's a massive intrusion and it's not just the fact our lives are disrupted but it's who he is."
Vice President JD Vance, speaking at Chevening House, joked that the special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. had been put "under strain" when his children, managed to get a catch while fishing, unlike the foreign secretary.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "A real pleasure to welcome my friend JD Vance and his family to Chevening. Before beginning our bilateral, the vice-president gave me fishing tips, Kentucky style."
What Happens Next
Vance planned a subsequent visit to Scotland later in the trip, a leg that local reporting said could involve a sizeable police operation, though the vice‑president was not expected to stay at former President Donald Trump's Turnberry resort, according to Sky News.
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