THE DONALD Trump baby blimp, which became the focal point of protests against the US president’s visit to the UK in July is expected to be resurrected as new protests are planned for a June state visit.
Anti-Donald Trump campaigners have promised to flood London for the visit expected before he heads to France to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Buckingham Palace announced that the US president will be heading to the UK on June 3, with further details released "in due course".
Now activists have begun coordinating a mass demonstration against Trump who has been criticised heavily for his approach to immigration and climate change.
Campaigners are considering launching a hot air balloon, five times the size of the blimp, which would also depict Trump as a wailing baby in a nappy.
Glasgow's George Square: thousands turn out to protest against Trump's 'stoking of fear and hate' last summer
Last summer, Mr Trump made a two-day working visit to the UK with his wife Melania when he avoided London due to demonstrations.
Thousands of people protested not only in London and but also in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
During his trip to the UK in 2018 more than 250,000 protesters took to the streets.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council estimated the police operation for that visit cost nearly £18m.
Leo Murray, the activist behind the Trump baby blimp which flew over Parliament Square last summer, said: “We’re quite sure that all British people of good will are going to be ready to run Trump out of town for a second time.
“The Trump baby will definitely fly again.
“We have been toying with the idea of a Trump baby hot air balloon, which would be about five times the size. But would cost a huge amount of money – upwards of £70,000.”
A spokesman for the mayor of London has hinted that an attempt to relaunch the balloon would be approved, as it was last time – though the rules may be different when it comes to hot air balloons.
READ MORE: Thousands of protesters turn out as Trump apologises to May for Brexit comments
Shaista Aziz, from the Stop Trump coalition, said: “It is time for everyone who opposes this politics of hate and bigotry to stand up and be counted.
"This demonstration isn’t just about Trump as one man. He is a symbol of the new far right, a politics of Islamophobia... and walls and fences that are growing around the world."
'Shame on you’ – Angry protesters target Trump in London last summer
The Scottish Government released a pointed statement, which warned: "We will not compromise our fundamental values of equality, diversity, and human rights."
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "We have not been approached by the UK Government in relation to the recently announced state visit by President Trump to the UK and we are not aware of any official plans for President Trump to visit Scotland.
"Scotland has deep and long-standing ties of family, friendship and business with the United States, which will continue to endure.
"However, we will not compromise our fundamental values of equality, diversity and human rights, and we expect these values to be made clear during the president's visit to the UK."
Meanwhile Scottish peer George Foulkes has said Trump should be barred from addressing parliament.
He has written to the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, asking him to back the Commons Speaker John Bercow in opposing an address at Westminster.
Normally, state visits are planned meticulously months in advance but the uncertainties surrounding Brexit, including whether or not Theresa May will still be in Downing Street when the US President arrives, mean that the details are being hastily put together.
Doubt has been cast over whether or not Mr Trump will address both Houses of Parliament as previous US heads of state have.
Mrs May extended the offer to Mr Trump early in his presidency when she met the US leader for the first time in the White House in January 2017.
The state visit was expected that year but no date was set. The US leader’s 2018 trip to the UK had many of the trappings of a state visit, including taking tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Mr Trump will again be hosted by Her Majesty at either Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle and the visit is likely to follow the traditional format of an official open-air welcome, featuring prestigious British regiments, lunch with the Queen and a state banquet.
The President and First Lady Melania Trump will also attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to mark 75 years since the D-Day landings.
Around the time of his UK visit, President Trump is due to travel to Europe and attend other D-Day commemorations on June 6.
Mrs May said June’s state visit was an “opportunity to strengthen our already close relationship in areas such as trade, investment, security and defence, and to discuss how we can build on these ties in the years ahead”.
The Whitehouse added that the upcoming trip would reaffirm the “steadfast and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom”.
In response to the announcement, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard tweeted: "We will organise again, we will march again and we will once again show the world that we reject his politics of hate."
Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP said: "With concern about the climate emergency at its highest ever level, it's shameful for the UK Government to happily roll out the red carpet for one of the world's most notorious climate deniers.
"I've got no doubt that people across Scotland and the UK will once again show their contempt for Trump and all that he represents."
Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman at Westminster, said: "It is extremely disappointing that Trump has been granted a state visit in June when the opposition to rolling out the red carpet for him has been communicated widely.
"Theresa May can be in no doubt about what message this sends to the rest of the world.
"This is a man who seeks to spread division and alienate minorities in his own country and across ours.
"When the Government are trying desperately to pull us away from our partners in Europe, this is not the relationship we should be cultivating.
"Liberal Democrats demand better. And we wholeheartedly oppose pulling out all the stops for someone who shows so little respect for the diversity and communities that we celebrate here in the UK."
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