At some points, up to 1,000 people a minute were signing a petition backing the permanent cancellation of the trip later this year, to avoid causing the monarch “embarrassment” over the ban on visitors to the US from seven mainlyMuslim countries.
Having started on Saturday with just 60 signatures, the petition quickly gained more than 100,000 – the threshold that means MPs will consider holding a Commons debate – and had last night soared above 500,000.
The drama was part of a massive backlash on both sides of the Atlantic to the “executive order” signed by Mr Trump imposing a 90-day ban on citizens from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen entering the United States.
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A petition seeking to ban President Trump from meeting the Queen has reached over 500,000 signatures
This ban is shameful and while it is in place we should not be rolling out the red carpet for President Trump.
Sadiq Khan
The US Refugee Admissions programme was suspended for 120 days, with an indefinite ban on Syrian asylum-seekers.
The bans are in line with Mr Trump’s campaign promise to protect America from Islamist terrorism and he promised tougher “extreme vetting” for future arrivals.
The imposition of the policy was so swift it saw people flying to the US with valid visas detained at airports when they landed in America.
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Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage expressed support for 'extreme vetting' of refugees
Former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage backed Mr Trump and said he would like Britain to introduce “extreme vetting”.
Mr Farage, who is on good terms with Mr Trump, said the President was “elected to get tough” and was doing what he had promised to protect America from terrorists.
Mr Farage told BBC1’s Sunday Politics the Trump’s policy was partly shaped by “the Merkel madness”, when German Chancellor Angela opened Germany’s doors to nearly a million migrants and refugees from the Middle East and beyond, making Europe vulnerable to terrorism.
“He is fully entitled to do this, and as far as we are concerned in this country, yes I would like to see extreme vetting,” said Mr Farage.
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The petition was started after President Trump signed an order banning certain nations from the US
But critics said the policy would fuel Islamist hatred and terrorism towards the west.
Downing Street made it clear Theresa May opposed the ban, which Mr Trump had not warned her about when they held talks – and hands – in the White House on Friday.
But the PM faced cross-party fire for refusing at a press conference in Turkey on Saturday to condemn the ban as details of it were emerging.
Yesterday Mrs May sought to regain ground by ordering Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd to contact their US counterparts about concerns particularly for the rights of UK citizens.
May meets Trump: Historic first meeting in pictures
Fri, January 27, 2017
The two leaders will spend about an hour in face-to-face talks in the Oval Office, where President Trump has restored a bust of Winston Churchill removed by predecessor Barack Obama.
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President Trump Meets With British PM Theresa May At The White House
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Theresa May came under fire for not condemning the order straight away
Much attention focused on the invitation to Mr Trump and wife Melania to visit Britain this year, which would see them received by the Royal Family.
It could be in June, potentially after the travel bans expire. But there is a growing chorus of protest demanding that the invite be rescinded or delayed.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told ITV’s Peston on Sunday that Britain should make clear it was “extremely upset” about the ban and Mr Trump should not come here until it was lifted.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major western city, declared: “This (travel) ban is cruel, this ban is shameful and while this ban is in place we should not be rolling out the red carpet for President Trump.”
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President Trump is expected to make an official visit to the UK later this year
The online petition said Mr Trump should be allowed to visit as President “but not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen”.
It added: “Donald Trump’s well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales. Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official State Visit.”
Graham Guest, from Leeds, who started the petition said he feared “awful” Mr Trump would use a state visit and photos with the Queen to boost his image and get re-elected for a second term.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “An invitation was extended and has been accepted.”
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Boris Johnson tweeted criticism of the order and has tried to secure the rights of British muslims
Number 10 had issued a midnight statement that Mrs May did “not agree” with the ban after she returned from Turkey where she had refused to speak out.
Allies defended her initial reticence, saying she was not a “shoot from the hip” sort of person and always wanted to be sure of facts before commenting.
She was criticised by Tory MP Heidi Allen, who said: “I wish she had said something (on Saturday). She should have felt braver to say something.”
Boris Johnson tweeted that it was “divisive and wrong to stigmatise because of nationality”.
He was yesterday pressing the President’s advisers to exempt Britons with dual citizenship from the UK and any of the banned list countries.
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