British museums battling to house ‘Trump baby’ blimp
British museums are battling over which will get to keep the 20-foot inflatable “Trump Baby Blimp” that made its debut during President Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom last week.
The British Museum, The Museum of London and the Bishopsgate Institute are all vying to make the balloon part of its collections, The New York Times reported Friday.
A spokesperson said the British Museum is in discussions with the blimp’s creators to feature it in an upcoming exhibition on dissent and protest.
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The Museum of London and the Bishopsgate Institute — which archive objects related to the history of protest — both want to house the blimp more permanently, the Times reported.
“We’d need to work out how to do that,” said Stef Dickers, an archive manager at Bishopsgate. “You could definitely come in and look at ‘Trump Baby’; you just might need to bring your own pump.”
London’s Design Museum and The Victoria and Albert Museum also reportedly considered acquiring the ballon.
The blimp flew over London and Edinburgh when Trump came for a working visit with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The inflatable diaper-clad baby holding a cell phone was the creation of Kevin Smith and his friends, who have begun calling themselves “Trump babysitters.”
The group raised about $44,500 in a crowdfunding campaign to produce the blimp — which is now being requested all over the world.
The creators might even release the design under a Creative Commons license so anyone can produce their own balloon, the newspaper reported.
“It’s become this sort of iconic image that could define part of Trump’s presidency,” Smith told the Times.
New Jersey activist Didier Jimenez-Castro raised almost $20,000 to bring the blimp to Trump’s Bedminster, N.J, golf course, where he regularly spends his weekends.
Trump supporter Kathie Kitt Conklin has pledged to pop the balloon, however, and started a GoFundMe for bail money in case she is arrested.
The fundraising page was later removed.