J.D. Vance has been warned that he’ll “find the resistance waiting” in the United Kingdom this summer, as the United States’ vice-president prepares to fly to the south of England for a family vacation.
Vances set for English vacation
Following Donald Trump’s ongoing visit to Scotland – where the U.S. president’s presence has sparked numerous protests – Vance is said to be planning to travel to the Cotswolds next month with his wife, Usha, and their three children.
Dubbed the “Hamptons of England”, the Cotswolds is a picturesque region in south-west England that’s known for its rolling hills and charming stone villages.
It has been reported that Vance and his family will be staying in the town of Charlbury, located around 70 miles west of London.
But Vance should expect to experience significant dissent amid the idyllic surroundings of the Cotswolds, a major British group of anti-Trump protesters has said in a statement issued to several media outlets in the U.K.
“Every bit as unwelcome”
“J.D. Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the U.K. as Donald Trump,” said the Stop Trump Coalition.
“We remember how Vance cut short his ski trip in Vermont because he was so enraged by the sight of a few protesters. We are sure that, even in the Cotswolds, he will find the resistance waiting.”
In March, Vance and his family got a frosty welcome from locals in the north-eastern U.S. state of Vermont, with demonstrators taking the vice-president to task over the Trump administration’s policies on issues such as immigration, the Israeli offensive in Gaza, and the Russian war on Ukraine.
Vance arrived in Vermont the day after he and President Trump had publicly harangued Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an explosive Oval Office meeting, attacking the Ukrainian president over his handling of his country’s conflict with Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime.
“Go ski in Russia,” one protester told the vice-president, per CBS.
Vance’s planned Cotswolds vacation comes just months after the American chat show host Ellen DeGeneres left the U.S. to settle in the English region, citing President Trump as a key reason for relocating.
Ellen leaves behind “scary” U.S. under Trump
DeGeneres, who came out as gay in 1997, this month described Trump’s U.S. as a place that is “scary for people to be who they are”.
Per the BBC, DeGeneres told audience members at a recent event in England that she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, arrived in the U.K. immediately before Trump’s presidential election win over Kamala Harris in November 2024.
“We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in’,” the 67-year-old said. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here’.”
In Scotland this weekend, Trump has been greeted by protests as the president embarks on a five-day visit.
In addition to playing rounds of golf at Trump-owned resorts, the U.S. president is set for meetings with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scottish First Minister John Swinney, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“No friend of Scotland”
On Saturday, there were demonstrations in cities such as Aberdeen and the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Per NPR, one protestor held bagpipes alongside a sign that read: “At least this bag of hot air serves a purpose.”
Speaking before Trump’s arrival in the U.K., the Stop Trump Coalition’s Alena Ivanova said: “Donald Trump may shake hands with our leaders, but he’s no friend of Scotland. We, the people of Scotland, see the damage he has done – to democracy and working people in the U.S., to the global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, to the very principles of justice and humanity.
“As ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents destroy families and neighbourhoods in the U.S., we here in Scotland are welcoming those that want to join our communities. As he dreams of rivieras built on the bones of Palestinians, we demand an end to the genocide.”
Trump, whose mother Mary Anne was born in Scotland, is viewed unfavorably by over 70% of Scots, according to an Ipsos Scotland Political Pulse carried out in February.
The 79-year-old is scheduled to return to the U.K. in September, for an unprecedented second state visit. He is the first U.S. president ever to be invited to the country for two separate state visits.
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