British protesters opposed to President Donald Trump are bracing for action following reports in the British media that the U.S. president is preparing to make a surprise state visit.
Sources inside the U.K. government have told the Guardian that they have been warned that Trump could visit his Turnberry golf course in Scotland in between trips to Hamburg for the G20 summit and Bastille celebrations in France over the next two weeks. From there he could travel to London to meet U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May for informal talks.
A number of protesters have said on Twitter that they are prepared to take to the streets with little notice and have expressed frustration that the President’s trip could be kept under wraps until the day before he visits. The U.K. government is expected to give less than 24 hours notice of a Presidential state visit to avoid the disruption of mass protest, the newspaper reports.
Left-wing journalists Owen Jones of the Guardian and Paul Mason both tweeted about the rumored visit, while another user took inspiration from a scene from Braveheart:
One protester contacted by TIME said that he was prepared to close his business for the day to “take a stand.”
Last month it was reported that Trump told May in a phone call that he did not want to make a formal state visit to the U.K. unless he had the full support of the British public, leading the visit to be postponed. The White House later denied that the two leaders had even discussed the subject.
May invited Trump and his wife Melania on a formal state visit, on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, when the Prime Minister became the first foreign leader to visit the White House just a week after his inauguration.
Prominent U.K. politicians, musicians and activists launched the Stop Trump coalition soon after, committing to “one of the biggest demonstrations in British history” should the President visit Britain.
TIME has contacted Trump Turnberry but nobody was available for comment. The White House made no comment to the Guardian on a potential visit.
[Guardian]
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