Donald Trump baby blimp: What happened to the inflatable of the former US president?

First unveiled in July 2018, the Donald Trump blimp quickly caught the public attention for its somewhat grotesque depiction of the former US president as a baby clutching his mobile phone. But what happened to it?

Since being voted out of office, Mr Trump has continued to court attention both for the various charges being filed against him, and his campaign as he fights to become the Republican candidate for next year’s election.

The six-metre-tall blimp, which made its first public appearance in Parliament Square in London, was flown during the protests over the former president’s visit to the UK.

Since then, it has visited countries from France to Argentina, though notably was banned from being flown above the then-president’s golf course in Turnberry, Scotland.

What happened to the blimp, and where is it now?

According to the Museum of London, it was gifted the giant inflatable in January 2021. And in January this year, the museum said specialist manufacturers were checking the balloon to see whether it is “structurally sound, how long it holds air for, as well as making any necessary small repairs”.

A spokesperson for the museum said at the time: “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 museum said it hopes to show the blimp once it has moved into its new home in West Smithfield, due to open in 2026.

Mr Trump was most recently indicted with plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat, making it the third time in four months the former US president has been criminally charged.

Special Counsel Jack Smith told Reuters: “The attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.

“As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies - lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government.”

Mr Trump has branded the allegation “ridiculous”, and his team have argued the indictment is “reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes”.

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