A 16ft talking robot of Donald Trump sitting on a gold toilet is being shipped to the UK ahead of protests against the US president’s state visit.
American Don Lessem paid $25,000 (£19,500) of his own money to make the robot, which spouts phrases often used by the president – including “I’m a very stable genius” and “no collusion”. It will also break wind.
Mr Trump is due to visit the UK between 3 and 5 June for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mr Lessem, 67, from Philadelphia, worked with a factory in China which builds mechanical dinosaur models to sell to zoos and museums.
Behind the robot: the golden toilet ‘Trump’ is sat on
He said: “I can’t stand the guy. I decided something funny, as offensive as possible, would work.
“I thought that, well, if they can make a 60ft dinosaur, they can make a 16ft high Trump on a toilet because that is where he spends most of his day and that’s where all of his best ideas come from.”
The man behind the robot-Trump said he did not work with any UK-based protest groups when arranging for it to be shipped because he was afraid they would say no.
“It’s sort of like you’ve got a package from your aunt and it’s got a fruit cake that you wouldn’t eat but she didn’t tell you it was coming, so there’s nothing you can do about it, that’s pretty much it.
“These are the guys that did the baby balloon which I love so I don’t think there’s too much taste that we have to worry about.”
Demonstrators floated a blimp portraying the US President above Parliament Square last year
The blimp of Mr Trump as a nappy-wearing baby is expected to be launched in London for a second time, after it was raised in Parliament Square during the American leader’s visit to the UK last summer.
One bump in Mr Lessem’s plan was when workers in the Chinese factory were worried they would go to jail in the US for building the robot.
He explained: “The first reaction was, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to jail’.
“And they thought it was insane and they mentioned that they could probably be killed for making such a thing in China.
“I explained that it was one of the few things left that we can do in America and they wouldn’t be on the hook.”
After the robot’s time in London, the plan is for the toilet-Trump to journey across America and Mr Lessem is currently crowdfunding to make it happen.
