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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Donald Trump baby blimp that soared above London during the president\u2019s last visit will not make an appearance this week after its creator said it is \u201cnot really a laughing matter anymore\u201d.<\/p>\n
The orange inflatable, which depicts the leader as an angry baby wearing a nappy and holding a mobile phone, first floated over Parliament Square in July 2018 in protest of Mr Trump\u2019s visit to the UK. It was flown for a second time during his state visit in June 2019, which also sparked mass protests.<\/p>\n
But on his visit to the capital this week, the US president will not have to face an unflattering, air-filled caricature, which now sits in storage.<\/p>\n
The balloon, created by Leo Murray and co-designed by artist Matt Bonner, was originally created to mock Mr Trump. But Mr Murray says the political climate is different today, and it is \u201cnot really a laughing matter anymore\u201d. <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>The Baby Trump blimp, bright orange and full of hot air, made its debut in London in July 2018 (Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHe told The Independent<\/em>: \u201cBack in 2019, Donald Trump was a figure of fun for the British public. Most people thought he was an idiot, and we were amazed that the American people had elected this guy to be the president.<\/p>\n“\u200aWe no longer own the blimp. We gave the blimp to the Museum of London. We just didn\u2019t think we would need it again.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said after the protests, people involved with the blimp received death threats and were tracked down at their places of work by far-right activists. They had thought about doing it again this year, but said the situation was worse today. <\/p>\n
At the time, Mr Murray said they wanted to prick Mr Trump\u2019s ego. He said: \u201cLiberals crying with placards is just water off a duck\u2019s back to Trump. He really doesn\u2019t care. The only thing that ever seems to have any effect on him at all is personal insults. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was like, what? Could we do that?\u201d <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>An inflatable caricature balloon of London mayor Sadiq Khan was flown over Parliament Square in September 2018, inspired by the Trump baby blimp (AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Museum of London, which was gifted the balloon, brought it to the skies once again in January 2023 as it wanted to test how best to preserve it and check if it was structurally sound.<\/p>\n
It will next be unveiled in 2026 when the museum opens its new home in West Smithfield, Farringdon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more The Donald Trump baby blimp that soared above London during the president\u2019s last visit will not make an appearance this week after its creator said it is \u201cnot really a laughing matter anymore\u201d. The orange inflatable, which depicts the leader as an angry baby wearing a nappy and holding a mobile phone, first floated over Parliament Square in July 2018 in protest of Mr Trump\u2019s visit to the UK. It was flown for a second time during his state visit in June 2019, which also sparked mass protests. But on his visit to the capital this week, the US president will not have to face an unflattering, air-filled caricature, which now sits in storage. The balloon, created by Leo Murray and co-designed by artist Matt Bonner, was originally created to mock Mr Trump. But Mr Murray says the political climate is different today, and it is \u201cnot really a laughing matter anymore\u201d. open image in gallery The Baby Trump blimp, bright orange and full of hot air, made its debut in London in July 2018 (Getty) He told The Independent: \u201cBack in 2…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}