Thousands plan to protest Trump’s UK visit

Nearly 90,000 people have indicated interest in a massive protest being planned for President Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom later this year.

At least 23,000 people have responded that they are “going” to a Facebook event called “Protest Trump’s visit,” and at least 65,000 have marked that they are “interested” in the event.

“It’s just been announced: Donald Trump is coming to Britain on a state visit later this year,” the event description reads. “We don’t know when. But let’s be ready — and be prepared to take to the streets in the most incredible protest in our history.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed earlier this month that Trump would visit the country on a state visit, despite rising tensions between the president and other leaders in the U.K.

At the end of last year, Trump faced major criticism from British lawmakers after retweeting videos posted by a woman associated with a British far-right nationalist group, many of whom said they did not want Trump to visit

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Trump told British television personality Piers Morgan in a recent interview that May reiterated the invitation for a state visit when he saw her at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and that the visit is planned for October.

The protest is using Oct. 1 as a placeholder date for the event.

Trump has reportedly told May that he would not visit the U.K. unless she could guarantee him that there would not be protests against his visit.

He canceled a trip to open the new U.S. Embassy in London earlier this month, saying it was because the embassy relocation was a “bad” Obama-era real estate deal. The deal was actually completed under President George W. Bush.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has repeatedly called for May to revoke Trump’s invitation for a state visit after Trump criticized his handling of the rash of terror attacks in London early last year. He and several British members of Parliament repeated those calls after Trump retweeted the videos from the nationalist group.

The Facebook event for the protest is hosted by “Stop Trump,” a coalition of anti-Trump groups and individuals backed by members of Parliament, activists and artists, and by Owen Jones, a Guardian columnist and prominent left-wing commentator and activist.