The inflatable effigy of the outgoing US President, created in protest to his UK visit, has been acquired by the London institution
The six-foot-high, neon orange inflatable Donald Trump, first flown in the skies of London in response to the US president’s 2018 visit, has been acquired by the Museum of London. The iconic blimp – which depicts Trump as a giant, snarling orange baby in a nappy, clutching a smartphone in his tiny hand – is likely to become part of the museum’s protest collection alongside artefacts from the Suffragette movement, Climate Crisis rallies, and recent protests against spending cuts.
Initially conceived by a group of friends (including environmental advocate Leo Murray), discussing how they could express their objection to Trump’s proposed visit, the inflatable effigy was a Crowdfunded project that stands as testimony to the anti-Trump sentiments of many people in the UK. “We hope the baby’s place in the museum will stand as a reminder of when London stood against Trump, but will prompt those who see it to examine how they can continue the fight against the politics of hate,” the blimp’s creators, designer by Matt Bonner and Imagine Inflatables, have said in a recent statement.
It was flown over the Houses of Parliament on July 13 2018, the floating caricature has become emblematic of global resistance to Trump’s presidency. Reemerging above London on the president’s state visit in 2019, the blimp has since then made appearances in the skies of France, Argentina, Denmark, alongside multiple places in the US. “This large inflatable was just a tiny part of a global movement,” the creators stated. “A movement that was led by the marginalised people who Trump’s politics most endangered – and whose role in this moment should never be underestimated.”
Museum of London director Sharon Ament feels their collection is the perfect home for the Trump baby. “It was born in London… it was an extraordinary and imaginative idea,” she said in a recent statement. “By collecting the baby blimp, we can mark the wave of feeling that washed over the city that day and capture a particular moment of resistance.”
As the 45th president of the United States enters his last days in office, there’s a definite poetic timeliness about the deflated Trump taking its final resting place in the museum’s permanent collection. But the creators of the blimp don’t think we’ve seen the back of the infamous world leader, warning, “While we’re pleased that the Trump baby can now be consigned to history along with the man himself, we’re under no illusions that this is the end of the story.”
