A year of resistance

2025 was the first year of Trump’s second term – and the Stop Trump Coalition relaunched in response. Events moved fast: by February, a crawling Keir Starmer was in the White House inviting Trump for that ‘unprecedented’ second state visit to the UK. We threw ourselves into campaigning against the state visit, with over 100,000 signing our petition calling for it to be cancelled. As we worked up the plans, we held public organising meetings in March and June, and stepped up our outreach across the movement.

Nae Trump

Then, in July, Trump arrived in Scotland for what was claimed to be just a surprise ‘tour of his golf courses’ – but British politicians lined up to meet him. At very short notice, Stop Trump Scotland came together to organise. They managed to pull off impressive protests in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and even in the tiny village of Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, next to Trump’s newest golf links. The Stop Trump message was all over the media for the duration of his visit.

Vance Not Welcome

US vice president JD Vance visited the Cotswolds in August. The media asked if we planned to protest – but could we really make it happen here? Inspired by the Scottish example, we thought something a bit more imaginative could work: and so, together with locals, we threw a ‘Not Welcome’ party, complete with cake. Vance’s trips abroad have a habit of sparking protests – and we’re proud that even in this small village, the resistance was waiting.

We kept Trump out of London

The initial plans for Trump’s state visit in September reportedly included him making a speech in Parliament. But because of their fear of protests, the government didn’t dare: in the end, Trump didn’t have any public engagements in London at all. Even in Windsor, where the state visit took place, he was hidden away behind a massive wall – no cheering crowds, no well-wishers. As Trump arrived, a pop-up action in Windsor saw protesters line the high street, making our voice heard despite a very high police and US security presence, while allies disrupted a Republicans Overseas banquet and projected images of Trump and Epstein onto the castle walls.

In London, tens of thousands turned up to say that Trump is not welcome in the UK. The national demonstration was supported by over 60 campaign groups bringing issues from Palestine and climate change to migrants’ rights – and a range of creative expressions of resistance, including the return of the ‘Trump Baby’ alongside the debut of the ‘Vance Balls’ (pictured above). Again, UK and global media interest was off the charts, and we made the most of the opportunity to make the case against the British government’s collaboration with the Trump regime.

And that’s not all…

We campaigned against Trump’s threats to our NHS. We called for the BBC to refuse to pay Trump a penny to settle his ridiculous lawsuit, with over 10,000 signing our letter to the BBC chair in December. We called for sanctions on Israel. We fought to keep the UK’s tax on mostly US-based Big Tech. We stood in solidarity with the growing movement in the US.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has been part of our campaigning this year – whether you showed up, made noise, organised, spread the word on social media or made a donation, we couldn’t do it without you.

Coming up in 2026

As we plan our campaigning for 2026, the World Cup looms large. Hosting will be shared between the US, Mexico and Canada – but with the majority of matches taking place in the US, especially in the later stages. We plan to highlight the very real dangers of travelling to Trump’s US for people who are at risk of having a dream football trip turn into a US border detention nightmare.

2026 sees US midterm elections, which should be a setback for Trump, as well as UK local elections, with Trump’s British wing in Reform UK hoping for gains. Trump continues to menace Gaza, Venezuela, Iran, Greenland and more. He is also still trying to push Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia. We will stay alert as Trump poses as a peacemaker while starting new conflicts and talking up the possibilities of US expansion.

Just announced: The King will also visit the US in 2026 – apparently in an attempt to revive the tech-focused US-UK trade deal that the US unilaterally suspended earlier this month. Trade deals with the US are all about ‘America First’, meaning US billionaires and corporations – for the UK, they are one-sided deals that can be torn up at any time.

Let’s make 2026 the year our government stops grovelling to Trump.