A giant balloon of "Trump Baby" in a diaper took flight over Britain's Houses of Parliament Friday, kicking off a day of widespread protests against the US leader's controversial visit to the UK.
The orange-hued blimp was inflated in Parliament Square at about 9.30 a.m. as a crowd of onlookers cheered. As the air filled the six-meter (20-feet) ballon, it rose slowly into the air.
It flew at a height of about 30 meters (98 feet) for two hours, fluttering over Westminster Abbey and high above the statutes of prominent historical figures including Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and Millicent Fawcett.
Blimp organizer Leo Murray told CNN the giant balloon had been designed to speak to Trump "in a language that he understands, which is personal insults."
Protesters gathered from early in the morning to watch the balloon go up. "No one really wants him to be in power ... he's not welcome in the UK, said Holly, a protester from London, who didn't give her last name. "It's bollocks," she said.
Instead of holding his meetings in London, Trump will instead hold talks with Prime Minister Theresa May at her country retreat outside the city and take tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle, west of London.
But in an interview with the Sun newspaper, he conceded that he felt unwelcome in London.
The request to fly the blimp was approved by London Mayor Sadiq Khan earlier this month. Khan, who has had a testy Twitter relationship with Trump, gave the unusual request the go-ahead after more than 10,000 people signed a petition.