Jeffrey Epstein’s shadow has followed Donald Trump to his royal lodgings across the pond.
Just as the president arrived for his state visit to the U.K., protesters projected massive images of Trump alongside Epstein, the late convicted child sex offender, on the walls of Windsor Castle.
It comes just hours after Trump boasted about being invited to stay at what he called “the ultimate” castle.
A reel including several infamous images of Trump and Epstein, as well as a copy of the lewd birthday letter Trump allegedly sent the disgraced financier, were projected by protesters reportedly led by the group “Led by Donkeys.”
Thames Valley Police arrested four people in connection with the stunt on “suspicion of malicious communications,” CNN reported.
The Trump-Epstein projection follows similar stunts from the previous day, when protestors unfurled a huge banner of the pair over the Long Walk at Windsor Castle.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment on the projection and the other protests surrounding the president’s visit.
Roughly 70 protesters, organized by the Stop Trump Coalition, gathered outside Windsor Castle to demonstrate against Trump earlier on Tuesday, The Guardian reported.
They chanted “Trump out” and “say it loud, say it clear: Donald Trump not welcome here,” according to the outlet.
Trump is making history as the first U.S. president to get a second state visit to the U.K., but he has seemed to be more focused on his lodging, portraying his stay at the castle on Wednesday as historic.
He is spending his first night at Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador’s official residence in London, before heading to Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
“They have never used Windsor Castle like this before – they use Buckingham Palace, I don’t want to say one is better than the other, but Windsor Castle is the ultimate,” Trump said outside the White House on Tuesday.
However, Trump is not the first U.S. president to stay at Windsor Castle, which sits roughly 20 miles outside of London. Former President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan spent the night there in 1982.
Trump’s first state visit to the U.K. was in June 2019, and he and First Lady Melania Trump will be treated to much pomp and pageantry for their second.
The U.S. president, who showed off his invitation from King Charles back in February, will be treated to a private carriage tour from the royal couple.
In addition, the first day of ceremonies will have around 1,300 British Armed Forces members, 120 horses, and 200 musicians to greet the president.
But Trump isn’t just visiting for a “holiday,” as it’s called across the pond.
The president is expected to announce a joint economic deal with Prime Minister Keir Starmer that could be worth more than $10 billion, with a focus on science, defense technology and nuclear power.
Trump’s visit comes soon after Starmer’s ousting of Peter Mandelson, the U.K. ambassador to the United States, for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The president has seemingly paid no attention to the protests. Ahead of his flight, he showered the “elegant” King Charles with praise, calling him and his wife Queen Camilla his “friends.”
“He’s such an elegant gentleman, and he represents the country so well,” the president said before boarding his flight. “They’ve been friends of mine for a long time, long before he was king.”
It’s no secret that Trump has long been enamored with British royalty; his meeting with the former Queen was a highlight of his first term.
“Meeting Queen Elizabeth II was particularly important to President Trump,” Fiona Hill, a Trump advisor, wrote in a 2021 memoir. “A meeting with the Queen of England was the ultimate sign that he, Trump, had made it in life.”
And Trump’s adoration for the British royalty might stem from his mother, Mary Anne’s, own love for them.
“She was a big fan of the Queen, I have to tell you,” Trump said in an interview with podcaster Miranda Devine in July. “And anytime the Queen was on television, my mother liked watching. She said, ‘Oh, the Queen’s on.’”
