Thousands of protesters poured into central London on Wednesday to demonstrate against President Trump, a contrast to his red-carpet reception from royalty and political leaders during his carefully choreographed visit to Britain.
As Mr. Trump spent most of the day 20 miles away in Windsor with no public-facing events, a coalition of activist groups, trade unions and other organizations called on people to express their opposition to the president, who is unpopular in Britain, according to opinion polls.
The crowd gathered near Oxford Circus with placards reading, “Dump Trump,” “Trump for Prison” and “No to racism, No to Trump.” One group of protesters played drums.
A march was scheduled to end outside Parliament. Among the speakers expected to address the crowd outside Parliament are the singer-songwriter Billy Bragg; the newly elected leader of Britain’s Green Party, Zack Polanski; and Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party who is planning to start a new left-wing party.
Kay Collin, 65, a retired teacher from Edinburgh who attended the protest, said she blamed President Trump for not intervening to stop Israel’s war in Gaza. Ms. Collin began her day at 4 a.m. to take a train from the Scottish capital, around 400 miles away, she said.
“It’s predominantly the genocide,” she said, referring to the situation in Gaza, “and the fact that Trump could have stopped it.”
Ace Kennedy, 19, a student from Kent in England’s southeast who is attending college in London, said he believed the president wanted to be a dictator, and disliked the government’s decision to invite Mr. Trump for a second state visit. “He can spread his hate in the country where he’s been elected, but I don’t want him to spread it here.”
Clive Blakesley, 71, a retired probation office from Maidenhead, west of London, described Mr. Trump as a “pathological liar, a felon and a bully.” He complained that the state visit was costing significant amounts of money and said that Mr. Trump could not be trusted to honor trade deals he has struck with Britain.
More than 1,600 police officers were being deployed to watch over the demonstration on Tuesday, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Louise Puddefoot, deputy assistant commissioner of the police force, said in a statement that the force was used to running “complex and large-scale policing operations to keep the public safe.”
When Mr. Trump visited Scotland earlier this year, the protests were limited in scale.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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