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Trump faces giant 'USS John McCain' and Obama approval ratings projected onto London landmarks during state visit

‘Hope you like seeing your failing approval numbers projected onto the Tower of London,’ anti-Brexit campaign groups tweets US president

Chiara Giordano
Monday 03 June 2019 17:04 BST
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Boris Johnson's criticisms of Donald Trump projected onto Big Ben

Donald Trump has been faced with giant projections of ‘USS John McCain’ and Obama approval ratings on London landmarks during his state visit.

The anti-Brexit campaign group Led By Donkeys tweeted the US president an image of a USS John McCain cap projected on to Madame Tussauds in the capital.

They said: “We read the story about the sailors on a US warship being ordered to hide from you because you’re triggered by the name on their hats.

“So we turned Madame Tussaud's into a giant USS John McCain baseball cap. Welcome to London!”

Approval ratings comparing Mr Trump and former US president Barack Obama were also projected on to the Tower of London.

They showed Mr Trump as having a rating of 21 per cent in the UK, while Mr Obama was shown to have 72 per cent.

Led By Donkeys tweeted the president: “Just so you know, you’re wildly unpopular here in Britain.

“Sad! People really don’t like you (though they love @BarackObama). Hope you like seeing your failing approval numbers projected onto the Tower of London.”

The campaign group had earlier also taken aim at Boris Johnson by projecting his comments about Mr Trump on to Big Ben.

The group highlighted the contrast between the pair’s current amicable relationship, compared to comments the Tory MP made about Mr Trump in 2015, in which he said the US leader was “quite frankly unfit to hold the office of the president of the United States”.

Mr Trump insulted London mayor Sadiq Khan just moments before setting off for Britain on Monday for a three-day state visit.

Asked on Sunday evening if he would be willing to meet Mr Khan during his visit, Mr Trump said: “No, I don’t think much of him. I think that he’s a – he’s the twin of (New York City mayor Bill) de Blasio, except shorter.”

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It came after Mr Khan described the US president over the weekend as “just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat” and compared the language he had used to that of the “fascists of the 20th century”.

A-level student Ollie Nancarrow welcomed Mr Trump to London by mowing a giant polar bear, penis and the words “climate change is real” into the grass at his family home in Hatfield Heath, Essex.

The 18-year-old hoped the US president would see his handiwork as he approached Stansted Airport, which is near his home, on Monday morning.

He told the Bishop’s Stortford Independent: “Donald Trump and his denial of climate change are not welcome and I want him to be fully aware of that when he flies in to Stansted on Monday.”

Mr Trump and his family began their visit on Monday by meeting the Queen and senior royals at Buckingham Palace, where they gathered for a private lunch.

The US president later viewed an exhibition of American artefacts and other items from the Royal Collection.

The Queen gifted Mr Trump and his wife First Lady Melania Trump a first edition of The Second World War by Winston Churchill, a three-piece Duofold pen set and a specially commissioned silver box with a handcrafted enamel lid.

A visit to Westminster Abbey, where the Trumps were met by the Duke of York, preceded tea at Clarence House with Charles and Camilla, ahead of a state banquet back at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.

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