The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, has made an appearance in Hayes, west London — at least, in billboard form.
The somewhat terrifying vision of a beaming Trump, pulling a surgical mask from his face is the work of Led By Donkeys — a group which defines itself as "a Brexit accountability project."
It's clearly a reference to mounting fears that Trump's government would want to get involved in a buy-out of Britain's much-loved NHS, as part of post-Brexit trade deals with the UK. Though any such fears have been poo-pooed by prime minister Boris Johnson, opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn has revealed documents that suggest an NHS buy out is by no means off the table.
“When you’re dealing in trade everything is on the table. So the NHS or anything else... absolutely.” @realDonaldTrump June 2019#GetJohnsonGone pic.twitter.com/xRE8c7FVjP
— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) December 4, 2019
The billboards (and judging from Led By Donkeys' Twitter account, there are more than one) coincide with Trump's visit to the UK for NATO talks. While here, the president himself has denied that the United States has any interest the UK's NHS, claiming he wasn't interested in buying it 'even if were handed to us on a silver platter'.
As Led By Donkeys, and many others, have pointed out, on his last visit to the UK, Trump concluded "When you're dealing in trade everything is on the table. So the NHS or anything else... absolutely." It's almost like you can't trust the man.
With thanks to the person who snapped, and gave us permission to use the main image.
