Baby Trump set to fly again as Museum of London reinflates blimp

The infamous blimp, which depicts the former US president in a nappy and clutching a phone, was produced to accompany protests over Trump’s UK visit in 2018. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

While Donald Trump’s hopes for re-election as US president may be faltering, the nappy-wearing depiction of him made famous during a UK protest in 2018 has had new life breathed into it, as the Museum of London has reinflated it.

The baby blimp inflatable, which flew above a march in Parliament Square in London in July 2018, was given a test inflation this week.

It was first flown during Trump’s working visit to London where about 75,000 people took to the streets to protest against him, with some calling for him to be impeached.

Trump met Queen Elizabeth II and the then prime minister Theresa May. When he returned for a state visit the following year, the blimp also reappeared.

The Donald Trump blimp being inflated by Museum of London staff for testing. Photograph: John Chase/Museum of London/PA

The 6-metre-high work, designed by Matt Bonner and constructed by Imagine Inflatables of Leicester, was gifted to the museum in January 2021.

Engineers have inflated it to see if it is structurally sound and how long it will hold air for, and will begin the process of making any necessary repairs.

It is hoped it will go on show at the Museum of London’s new home in West Smithfield in London, which will open in 2026.

“It is always a challenge to preserve objects that are meant to be short-lived like the Trump blimp,” a spokesperson from the Museum of London said.

“It was made to be flown over Parliament Square during the then president Trump’s visit … a quick, flexible and visible icon, as opposed to the permanent statues in Parliament Square made from the much more durable materials.

The Trump baby blimp reaching its full 6-metre height during testing. Photograph: John Chase/Museum of London/PA

“We have worked together with scientists at University College London and the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, to analyse the composition of the plastic … the blimp is made from PVC material, it is soft and flexible and very thin, much like a giant beach ball.

“Plastics age and break down in sometimes unexpected ways, so this will help us establish how we can best preserve it in the long-term as part of our collection.”

The balloon will join other pieces in the museum’s protest collection, which includes artefacts relating to the suffrage movement, as well as placards, badges and posters from protests for a variety of causes, including accessibility for transport, CND marches and those against the Iraq war.