President Donald Trump received a rude welcome in the United Kingdom, where hundreds of protesters greeted him with signs calling him a fascist and pedophile.
A van displaying a photo of the U.S. president and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was briefly stopped by police Wednesday as it approached Windsor Castle, where King Charles will host him for an official state visit, and CNN International's Nic Robertson reported on the massive protests against Trump.
"There are perhaps a couple of thousand people gathered here, so far more are expected," Robertson reported. "I think one of the sides of this road is still open, but the police are planning to shut down the routes. People will be moving off here in a big march, a mile or so away to to the buildings of Parliament. The message here is all anti-Trump and it's a mixed bag. It's. It's 'stop Trump, stop racism,' 'stop Trump, stop fascism,' 'go home, pedophile.' [We] saw one big flag that was 'expletive Trump.' People are pretty clear here. 'Stop the war in Gaza' is another one we're seeing here. I saw an elderly lady with a placard saying 'grannies against Trump.'"
Trump has faced months of questions about his longtime association with Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell after his administration announced in July that no further information about the disgraced financier's alleged sex trafficking network would be released, and those concerns followed him across the Atlantic Ocean.
"The mood here is pretty light but pretty determined," Robertson said. "The police here they're on the side streets, 1,100 of them, by the way. The police say they've committed to sort of manage this protest today. It'll last several hours, and I think it is the counterpoint, if you will, to what's happening at Windsor, the sort of pomp and pageantry there that the British are so famous for."
