By Catarina Demony and Sam Tabahriti
LONDON/WINDSOR (Reuters) -Thousands of people marched through London on Wednesday to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain while a much smaller crowd gathered outside the royal Windsor Castle west of the capital to give him a warm welcome.
Trump was paying Britain an unprecedented second state visit, and was treated to displays of royal pageantry, including a carriage procession in Windsor and a grand military parade.
While all that was happening, a ‘Trump Not Welcome’ protest took place 25 miles (40 km) away in central London organised by the Stop Trump Coalition and supported by other organisations including Amnesty International, women’s associations such as Abortion Rights, and pro-Palestinian activists.
“I quite simply dislike everything that Trump and his administration represent around the globe. (They are) absolutely awful,” said Bryan Murray, a retiree, who attended with his wife and held a placard reading ‘Dump Trump’.
While British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has struck up an unlikely friendship with Trump, the president still divides public opinion. A YouGov poll showed 45% thought it was wrong to invite Trump, while 30% said it was the right move.
Four people were arrested on Tuesday after images were projected onto Windsdor Castle of Trump alongside sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – an issue that could surface during the visit after Starmer sacked his U.S. ambassador over Epstein ties last week.
More than 1,600 police officers were deployed to deal with the protest, which moved peacefully toward parliament and featured banners reading: “Not Wanted Here, Not Wanted Anywhere” and “Trump, a big step back on the evolution of man”. Police said around 5,000 people took part.
A spokesperson for the Stop Trump Coalition said the rally was a chance to show the government and the world that “Britain rejects hate, division and authoritarianism”.
The turnout on Wednesday was similar to that seen for Trump’s previous state visit in 2019 but much lower than for his first official visit to Britain as president in July 2018, when estimates varied between tens of thousands and 250,000.
Earlier in Windsor, a few dozen Trump supporters turned out to see the president arrive at the castle, including one man wearing a cap that read: “Trump was right about everything”.
Former New York police officer Steven DeFranco, 64, said he knew he had to make a stop at Windsor during his business trip when he heard Trump was coming.
“He’s doing a fabulous job,” DeFranco said, describing Trump as a “beaming light”.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Horaci Garcia and Ali Kicukgocmen in London, Sam Tabahriti and Marissa Davison in Windsor;Editing by William James and Philippa Fletcher)
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