Mass protests planned in London and Windsor for Trump's state visit
Buckingham Palace confirmed on Monday that the King is to host the controversial American leader at the Berkshire royal residence from September 17-19, when he will be feted with a ceremonial welcome and a state banquet.
US President Donald Trump will be hosted by the King (Victoria Jones/PA)
The trip will be Mr Trump's second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture for a US president – with his last one in 2019 seeing thousands of people turn out on the streets in London in opposition.
A 20ft Trump baby blimp also took to the skies above Parliament Square, just as it did during a previous visit by the billionaire-turned politician in 2018.
The Stop Trump Coalition has yet to confirm whether the famous inflatable effigy, which depicts the US president as an angry baby in a nappy clutching a mobile phone, will make a reappearance.
The original was donated to the Museum of London in 2021.
The Donald Trump baby balloon in Parliament Square during Donald Trump's last state visit in 2019 (David Mirzoeff/PA)
Other inventive creations by protesters in 2019 included a 16ft talking robot of Mr Trump sitting on a gold toilet, which said the phrases 'No collusion', 'You are fake news' and 'I'm a very stable genius' in audio of Mr Trump's own voice; and Handmaids Against Trump – women draped in red with white hoods in homage to Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel about a crackdown on reproductive rights.
On September 17 – the first day of Mr Trump's visit – demonstrators will assemble at London's Embankment at 2pm and march to a 5pm rally at an as-yet-undisclosed location.
Further protests, including one near Windsor Castle, are set to be confirmed once more details of Mr Trump's visit is known.
Security is expected to be at peak levels for the American leader, who survived an assassination attempt last year.
The then-Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall with US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania in 2019 (Chris Jackson/PA)
The Stop Trump Coalition's spokesperson Seema Syeda said: 'This will be a massive protest against Trump's state visit.
'Trump and his authoritarian politics are not welcome here. Keir Starmer should not be rolling out the red carpet for Trump.
'They are already running scared. They have chosen the first possible date that stops Trump from being able to address Parliament.
'We know that Trump is deeply unpopular with the public.
'We mobilised hundreds of thousands of people against Trump during his first term, and he has only got worse since then.
'We are working at speed to bring together all the movements – for democracy, for equality, against climate change, for a free Palestine – to show our unity against Trump.'
A 16ft talking robot of US President Donald Trump sitting on a gold toilet in Trafalgar Square in 2019 (Jacob King/PA)
The House of Commons will not be sitting at the time of Mr Trump's visit as it will be in recess for party conference season, meaning the president will not be able to address Parliament as French President Emmanuel Macron did during his state visit last week.
However, the House of Lords will be sitting.
Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now which is part of the coalition, accused Mr Trump of being a bully and suggested there was a growing global resistance against him.
'Trump is engaged in economic warfare against both friend and foe,' he said.
'He's bullying countries, including the UK, to give in to the demands of American multinational corporations.
'And he's taking his own country down an increasingly fascist path – crushing the rights of Americans, ignoring the courts, threatening the media and universities.'
Charles and Mr Trump during his ceremonial welcome at Buckingham Palace six years ago (Toby Melville/P)
Mr Dearden added: 'Why on earth would we want to accord this man a second state visit? 78% of Britons have a negative view of Trump, and with good reason.
'If Starmer won't stand up to Trump, we will – by taking to the streets as part of the growing global resistance against Trump and the oligarchs that surround him.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Republican leading inquiry into Biden's autopen use has digitally signed letters
A Kentucky Republican leading the Trump administration's investigation into Joe Biden's mental capacities during his time in office, including Biden's reliance, like many other presidents, on an automatic signature machine, has been shown to have used a digital signature himself in the course of the investigation. NBC reported that some letters and subpoena notices issued by James Comer, which were sent out in connection to his investigation into Biden's use of the so-called autopen, bore a digital signature. Comer has sent 16 letters to former Biden White House officials requesting transcribed interviews, NBC said. Metadata analysis showed that all appeared to be signed with a digitally inserted signature. Further letters requesting testimony from the White House physician Dr Kevin O'Connor and Anthony Bernal, a senior aide to former first lady Jill Biden, were also signed with digital images, NBC said. The actual subpoenas were not shared by the committee, which just released a photo of them instead. The findings are likely to intensify the political battle over Biden's use of the autopen. Donald Trump has claimed that his predecessor had little knowledge of what he was signing, including pardons, clemencies and executive orders, and that the autopen was controlled by 'radical left' actors in the White House. On Monday Biden ridiculed those accusations, telling the New York Times in his first on-the record interview with the paper since he was elected president in 2020 that he 'made every decision' on his own. 'We're talking about [granting clemency to] a whole lot of people,' he said, explaining why autopen was used on the thousands of pardons that were issued. Trump himself has admitted using the autopen on some documents. Nevertheless, he attacked Biden again in the Oval Office during a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, saying: 'I guarantee you he knew nothing about what he was signing, I guarantee you.' Trump has repeatedly pushed the autopen conspiracy theory to further the narrative that Biden was somehow not fully in command of his administration or its policies. Last month Trump ordered an investigation, calling it 'one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history'. Biden has maintained that the allegations are 'ridiculous and false'. Comer's apparent use of a digital signature now threatens to cloud Republicans' efforts. A spokesperson for the House committee on oversight and reform, the body Comer heads, said using a digital signature for correspondence was common practice. 'Chairman Comer has never hidden the fact that he uses a digital signature when appropriate, and he approves all official correspondence that is signed digitally,' a spokesperson for the committee told NBC News, but added that 'legally binding subpoenas issued by Chairman Comer always bear a wet signature and are never signed using an autopen or digital signature.'
Telegraph
20 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump's Nvidia U-turn ‘will boost Chinese military'
Donald Trump's decision to let Nvidia sell powerful artificial intelligence (AI) microchips to China has sparked fears that the technology could be used to boost Beijing's military. Charles Parton, from the think tank Rusi, said there would 'inevitably' be sales of semiconductors 'which have the possibility of military use'. 'Once exports reach China, the Communist Party can direct their use,' he told The Telegraph. Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: 'Given Beijing's stated policy of civil-military fusion, it has to be presumed these chips will be used for military applications, and is likely to facilitate the modernisation and expansion of the People's Liberation Army.' On Tuesday, Nvidia said it had begun filing new applications to sell its advanced chips in China again. 'The US government has assured Nvidia that licences will be granted, and [we] hope to start deliveries soon,' the company said. The decision to allow Nvidia's most advanced H20 chips to be sold to China reverses an earlier ban by Donald Trump. The US introduced new restrictions in April amid concerns the technology could be used to build cutting-edge supercomputers in China. However, a charm offensive by Jensen Huang, Nvidia's boss, appears to have prompted Mr Trump to change his position. This has included attending a $1m (£744k)-a-head dinner at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and promising to build new factories in the US. Mr de Pulford said: 'This is a regrettable decision which suggests the US now believes it can no longer prevent China from acquiring the technology.' Theo Zenou, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said it remained a 'definite possibility' that US chips could end up in Chinese military technology. 'The danger remains, and we should expect China to try and use the chips for military applications,' he added. Under the Biden administration, the US stepped up efforts to block the sale of advanced AI microchips to China. Nvidia's processors are used to power the most advanced AI products and are being installed in their thousands in vast new supercomputers. 'Well-established concern' US security officials have long warned China could use American-made AI technology for military purposes, while thousands of processors have already been smuggled into the country. Last week, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks wrote to Nvidia's Mr Huang ahead of his trip to China, warning him of 'well-established concern' that Nvidia's chips could be used to 'support Chinese military and intelligence activities'. Mr Huang this week downplayed concerns about the use of Nvidia chips by China's military. 'They don't need Nvidia's chips, certainly, or American tech stacks in order to build their military,' he told CNBC. He told reporters in Beijing: 'We believe that every civil model should run best on the US technology stack, encouraging nations worldwide to choose America.' Nvidia's H20 chips were designed to be used by Chinese customers and swerve export controls on its most advanced technology, such as its H200, which remained banned from export to China.
South Wales Guardian
25 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Windrush commissioner: Apprehension and suspicion remains towards Home Office
Reverend Clive Foster, the first Windrush commissioner, has pledged to push for speedier payouts from a much-criticised compensation scheme for those affected by the scandal. Last month just ahead of announcing his appointment, immigration minister Seema Malhotra confirmed around 64 claimants had died after applying for payouts, as she set out the Government's wish to speed up 'justice'. On Wednesday, she will attend an event with Mr Foster where people affected by the scandal, which erupted in 2018 when British citizens were wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation despite having the right to live in Britain, will hear from the commissioner on his aims for his role. A total of 10,326 claims had been made under the scheme as of May this year, according to the latest Home Office data. The figures also showed that just over £112 million has been paid out so far, covering 3,334 claims. In an interview with the PA news agency ahead of the event, Mr Foster said he will be advocating for a 'fair, accessible and trauma-informed' compensation scheme. While some campaigners have called for the scheme to be moved out of the Home Office altogether, due to applicants' lack of trust in the department, Mr Foster appeared to disagree with such a change. He told PA: 'I think what I will be pushing for is to make sure that this compensation scheme must be seen to be fair, accessible and trauma-informed, and I will be pushing to get swifter outcomes. 'I know there's been a call for movement into another area (out of the Home Office), but I think we should be careful what we wish for. 'I think it's important that we make the scheme workable.' Asked if he felt moving it to another department might risk further delays to payouts, he said: 'I think that is a possibility.' He said the Home Office would not want a situation where it has 'further 'reasons why it cannot be giving out fast decisions and compensation to people who have been terribly affected as a result of the scandal, and so this movement, I think, would inevitably cause some of that slowing down, and I think that is something that we have to be aware of'. He said he had already pressed on the minister the need for guarantees around pension losses being covered by the scheme. Ms Malhotra has previously said officials in her department are 'reviewing the current exclusion within the rules of compensation for private and occupational pensions'. Mr Foster said he will work with 'like-minded campaigners' to address problems with the scheme and 'to inform the Home Office where they're getting it right and where they're getting it wrong, without fear or favour'. Asked to describe the level of trust in the Home Office currently among those affected by the scandal, he said: 'I'm afraid I still feel that there is apprehension and some suspicion with regards to, 'is this working towards better outcomes?' 'What we need to accelerate is the actions and activities that are going to build trust. I always say 'you can't cross a bridge until you've built it.'' He said the department must show through actions rather than only words 'that there is going to be a culture change'. Mr Foster, a senior pastor at the Pilgrim Church in Nottingham and the son of parents who migrated to the UK from Jamaica in 1959, said he will 'be reaching out to communities and acting as that advocate and trusted voice, as it were, going forward'. Among his top priorities will be ensuring people are comfortable to come forward and get the correct documentation to ensure they have settled status and are not 'wrongly classified as illegal'. He said: 'People still need to feel that they can be respected and accepted to come forward without that fear of being penalised as a result of not having (the right documentation).' Meanwhile, Mr Foster said he will also be working to ensure the legacy of the Windrush generation is celebrated in the future, including through the annual Notting Hill Carnival. Campaigners last month called on the Government to step in to protect the future of the west London carnival, which they said was in jeopardy, as they asked for urgent funding to save the world-famous event. Mr Foster said carnival 'brings so much to the country, and I think that is an expression of the Windrush generation legacy'. He added: 'One of the things in my role would be to be looking to ensure that we continue to celebrate the legacy and the contribution of the Windrush generation, and carnival is one of those aspects, and I'll be happy to engage in conversations to look at that going forward.'
