DONALD Trump was spotted in Battersea hours after cancelling a UK visit on Friday - albeit in waxwork form.
Madame Tussauds transported its model of Trump four-and-a-half miles from its Marylebone site to the new US Embassy, in Nine Elms, on Friday.
The US president branded the embassy "off location" in a Tweet explaining his cancelled UK visit which was due to take place next month.
Staff from the Embassy, joined by construction workers, crowded around the model and posed for selfies.
Marsha De Cordova, Labour MP for Battersea, claimed Trump cancelled his visit because he is "scared" of peaceful demonstrators opposing his views.
She said: "We welcome the fact that Donald Trump isn't coming to London next month and coming to Battersea to open the embassy."
De Cordova said his tweet blaming his predecessor Barack Obama for the embassy move was "pretty inaccurate".
She added: "Trying to diss Battersea clearly indicates he's never been here and doesn't know anything about my constituency.
"We are 15 minutes away from the heart of Britain's democracy - the Houses of Parliament and Westminster."
Claire Treacy, from Madame Tussauds, said transporting the model Trump was not easy, though only the figure's head and hands were made from heavyweight wax.
She added: "We're all about famous fun at Madame Tussauds London and we've got such a great figure in our Trump.
"Mr Trump is always welcome to come and visit his figure here in the UK."
The cancelled visit attracted criticism from people near the Nine Elms site.
Rachael Basak, 34 from South East London, said she was glad Trump had called off the trip.
"His values do not reconcile with London values- we're diverse, we recognise and value everybody irrespective of where they are from," she said.
Mark Wright, 29, also from South East London said Trump's tweet was "a load of rubbish".
He said: "Give it another five years. When it's developed, you'll see that it's a prime location rather than an 'off location'.
"I think it's important that we take on the public's opinion that we don't think he should be coming over but we also have to be mindful of the UK/US relationship because that's going to be vital post-Brexit."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel