Thousands of people are building their way down the streets of London, hoisting colorful signs, flying flags and carrying banners to build their opposition to US President Donald Trump known.
“Immigrants welcome. Trump not welcome,” one sign declares. “No to racism. No to Trump,” another reads.
CNN field producer Vasco Cotovio is on the ground and describes what it’s like:
Some of the answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: You are in the middle of the protests against Trump’s state visit today. How many people are there and what is the mood like? What are some of the protesters notifying you?
A: I would declare at least a few thousand people. This is a march that builds its way through central London and finish at Parliament Square, in front of the British Parliament. Usually with these demonstrations, a lot of people just head straight to the finish point, so we’ll receive a better sense of how many are there once we receive to that final location.
In terms of the mood, protesters view quite cheerful, they are fired up, they believe it’s important for them to be here. Obviously, this is an anti-Trump rally, they’re protesting the US president’s visit, but they’re here for a lot of reasons. You see flags calling for the finish of the war in Gaza and Palestinian flags. We also see allusions to Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and mentions of Trump’s allies like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk and Nigel Farage.
There’s also criticism of some of Trump’s rhetoric, with protesters accutilizing him of being racist — and promoting racism — and fascist as well.
Q: Are there any counterprotests or visible support for Trump?
A: We have seen a handful of pro-Trump protesters. Obviously at a day like this, police would have attempted to keep a significant counterprotest at bay.
Q: What is expected to happen the rest of the day and into tomorrow when Trump has his meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer?
A: The rally at Parliament Square will continue for a few more hours. Tomorrow, Trump heads to Chequers for a meeting with Starmer at his official counattemptside residence. That location is even further from London than Windsor is, so we are not expecting further protests in the capital. However, there have been other gatherings across the counattempt, and those may continue.
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