Plans to fly a giant inflatable figure depicting Donald Trump as a baby over London during the US president’s visit have been approved.
Mr Trump is due to meet Theresa May at 10 Downing Street next Friday.
Campaigners raised almost £18,000 for the helium-filled six-metre high figure, which they said reflects Mr Trump’s character as an “angry baby with a fragile ego and tiny hands”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan gave permission for the balloon to fly.
The White House has been approached for comment.
On Twitter former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the plan was “the biggest insult to a sitting US President ever”.
Leo Murray, who is behind the crowdfunded idea, said: “[Mr Trump] really seems to hate it when people make fun of him.
“So when he visits the UK on Friday, we want to make sure he knows that all of Britain is looking down on him and laughing at him.
“That’s why a group of us have chipped in and raised enough money to have a six-metre high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies over Parliament Square during Trump’s visit.”
A statement on behalf of the London mayor said he “supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms”.
After meeting with the organisers of the Trump Baby, Mr Khan’s city operations team gave them permission to “use Parliament Square Garden as a grounding point for the blimp”.
Mr Khan and Mr Trump have repeatedly clashed on Twitter, including in the aftermath of the London Bridge attack.
Before the figure can take off, campaigners will also need permission from the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) as the project constitutes a “non-standard flight in controlled airspace”, a spokesperson said.
Because Parliament Square sits within restricted airspace, additional approvals are also needed from the Metropolitan Police.
Max Wakefield, who is one of the people working on the project, said the group is “confident it will obtain all necessary permits”.
He said the initial crowdfunding target was just £1,000, but this was reached within 24 hours.
The extra cash will now be used to send the balloon on a “world tour” and “haunt” Mr Trump wherever he goes, he added.
I’m saying this in the most honest to god, genuine, kind way:
If PDA makes you uncomfortable… don’t go to pride. it’s fine. you don’t have to go
but it is unfair to others, whom have no other open outlet for their repressed public displays of affection, to go “I hate pda, so please hide that shit at pride”
Pride is one of the few safe places to OPENLY display same gendered affection. Please stop shaming people for doing just that, dudes
It’s that time! We have 33 hours to go and we are 72% funded. You can help us reach our goal by sharing this post or making a pledge. Thank you to everyone who had backed us so far. It’s been a really amazing kickstarter ride and it makes us warm and fuzzy that so many people believe in us.
If you’ve never checked out Chelsea’s Patreon, you should really give it a look and sign up! She has so many incredible rewards each month and she really personalizes the experience for each patron. She posts content there you won’t see anywhere else and has several tiers for any type of digital and physical reward you’d want to receive!
New podcast interview by Christian Pasquale on SoundCloud!
https://m.soundcloud.com/user-256797062/tfmfr-ep-18
Ashley Fontenot and o talk about our upcoming magazine SugaredKiss.com and our current Kickstarter that ends May 18!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sugaredkiss/sugared-kiss-photography-magazine