Trump ‘fine’ with protests as he lands in UK

DONALD Trump has touched down in Britain for his first official visit and has already brushed off mass protests by saying: ‘I think they like me a lot in the United Kingdom – they’re great people’.

The United States President landed at Stansted Airport on Air Force One with First Lady Melania and will meet the Prime Minister and Queen during a four-day red carpet visit.

America’s Commander-in-Chief has 1,000 of his own staff in the UK and a giant motorcade led by his bomb-proof Cadillac nicknamed ‘The Beast’ as well as multiple helicopters including Marine One to fly him around.

The President and his First Lady were met on the tarmac by US Ambassador Woody Johnson and UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox before he was whisked off to the ambassador’s house near Regent’s Park.

Earlier today he gave an extraordinary press conference in Brussels after giving NATO leaders a bruising over funding, where he wrote off protesters and said Theresa May’s Brexit deal probably wasn’t what Britons voted for.

When asked about the threat of mass demonstrations he said: ‘I think it’s fine. A lot of people like me there. I think they agree with me on immigration. I think that’s why Brexit happened’.

Protesters have pledged to follow him wherever he goes in Britain and 10,000 police officers have been drafted in to protect him – the largest number deployed since the 2011 riots.

Almost 2million signed a petition demanding he was banned from the UK because they believe he is sexist and racist and ‘Stop Trump’ campaigners say he will face a ‘Wall of Sound’ outside all the landmarks he visits because supporters will bang pots and pans.

Despite not being an official state visit the Government is desperate to ensure the US leader feels he is being treated with the appropriate level of pomp and ceremony.

He will be treated to a Guard of Honour when he meets the Queen at Windsor Castle for tea tomorrow, there will also be a grand dinner at Blenheim Palace tonight – Winston Churchill’s ancestral seat – as well as a lunch with Theresa May at Chequers on Friday.

Tonight he will stay at the US Ambassador official residence in Regent’s Park, London, which has been surrounded by a ring of steel of new security fences and road barriers to prevent a terror attack.

On Saturday he will fly up to Scotland to play golf at one of his resorts and his son Eric landed in the family’s ‘Trump Force One’ private jet at Aberdeen this morning, before flying to Helsinki to meet Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Protesters have pledged to follow him wherever he goes in Britain and 10,000 police officers have been drafted in to protect him – the largest number deployed since the 2011 riots.

Almost 2million signed a petition demanding he was banned from the UK because they believe he is sexist and racist and ‘Stop Trump’ campaigners say he will face a ‘Wall of Sound’ outside all the landmarks he visits because supporters will bang pots and pans.

Despite not being an official state visit the Government is desperate to ensure the US leader feels he is being treated with the appropriate level of pomp and ceremony.

He will be treated to a Guard of Honour when he meets the Queen at Windsor Castle for tea tomorrow, there will also be a grand dinner at Blenheim Palace tonight – Winston Churchill’s ancestral seat – as well as a lunch with Theresa May at Chequers on Friday.

Tonight he will stay at the US Ambassador official residence in Regent’s Park, London, which has been surrounded by a ring of steel of new security fences and road barriers to prevent a terror attack.

On Saturday he will fly up to Scotland to play golf at one of his resorts and his son Eric landed in the family’s ‘Trump Force One’ private jet at Aberdeen this morning, before flying to Helsinki to meet Vladimir Putin on Monday.