And so far, it seems the campaign is going to according to plan: on Monday, Chart Data reported that “American Idiot” — which lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong initially wrote out of frustration with the American media’s coverage of the Iraq War — had reentered the Top 20 in the U.K.<doc-sep>US President Donald J. Trump delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC, USA, 28 February 2017. / AFP / EPA POOL / JIM LO SCALZO (Photo credit should read JIM LO SCALZO/AFP/Getty Images) TOPSHOT - A vendor picks up a 100 yuan note above a newspaper featuring a photo of US president-elect Donald Trump, at a news stand in Beijing on November 10, 2016. The world's second-largest economy is US president-elect Donald Trump's designated bogeyman, threatening it on the campaign trail with tariffs for stealing American jobs, but analysts say US protectionism could create opportunities for Beijing. / AFP / GREG BAKER (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images) US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2018. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images) SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on before speaking to members of the media during a visit to AppDirect on February 8, 2018 in San Francisco, California. Trudeau is visiting several cities in the U.S. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin attend a joint press conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) President Donald Trump talks on the phone aboard Air Force One during a flight to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address a joint gathering of House and Senate Republicans, Thursday, January 26, 2017. This was the Presidentâs first Trip aboard Air Force One. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, May 17, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) (CNN) — Theo Wargo/Getty Images NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 15: Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day In Concert - Brooklyn, NY at Barclays Center on March 15, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images) Oh, the things President Trump will be greeted with this week when he visits London: demonstrators, a giant “Trump Baby” balloon – and a uniquely British musical protest. For the past couple of weeks, a social media campaign has sought to make Green Day’s classic 2004 jam “American Idiot” the No. 1 tune in the UK by the time Trump arrives Friday. The “Get American Idiot to No.1 for Trump’s UK Visit” Facebook page has been advocating for some type of musical protest during a Trump visit to Britain pretty much since the start of his presidency. After Trump’s “working visit” – as opposed to a formal state visit – was announced in April, the effort went into overdrive. The campaign asks people to download “American Idiot” between Friday, July 6, and Friday, July 13, to push the 14-year-old single to the top of the Official UK Charts. So far the effort appears to be working, with the song checking in at No. 18 on the chart Tuesday. It’ll take a particularly strong push though to get the song to the top of the chart by Friday. A British tradition For Americans all of this may seem, well, kind of weird. But the Brits have been waging campaigns to get certain songs to chart for a decade. Back in 2008, a DJ, tired of singing competition winners clogging the charts at Christmas, began a Facebook campaign to get Rick Astley’s 80s anthem “Never Gonna Give You Up” to No. 1. Since then there have been numerous attempts to get tunes as varied as Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast” to the themes from “Star Wars” and “Pokemon” to the top of British charts in time for Christmas. The politically-charged “American Idiot” was a Billboard Hot 100 hit for Green Day back in the fall of 2004 when George W. Bush was President. That’s not the only protest Trump is not exactly popular in the UK right now, and his unpopularity with the Brits is shaping his first official visit there. He’ll meet Queen Elizabeth and huddle with British Prime Minister Theresa May but, in a break from custom for a visit by a foreign leader, he will not visit Downing Street. 01:34 - Source: CNN 'Trump baby' balloon approved by London mayor He really won’t spend too much time at all in London during the three-day visit, as the President’s handlers seek to minimize the risk of awkward encounters with angry protesters in the streets. Or in the air for that matter. During a planned “Stop Trump” march in central London on Friday, a 19-foot-tall orange balloon – shaped to look like a baby version of Trump – will be flown as high as 98 feet in the air near Parliament. Note: This piece has been updated to correct the title of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” CNN’s Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.<doc-sep>The 2004 Green Day hit song “American Idiot” is climbing the charts in the United Kingdom ahead of President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE’s visit there later this week. HuffPost reported Monday that the song is the No. 1 single on Amazon’s list of best-selling songs in Britain. A Twitter account created to increase the song's popularity ahead of Trump’s visit indicated over the weekend that the track was a top-10 seller on iTunes, as well. The song was originally written, in part, about then-President George W. Bush. We’ve crept up into the iTunes Top 10 (AND another version at #17 too!) and still at #1 on Amazon! Keep sharing to others what we are all doing! #MAIGA pic.twitter.com/4wuuElNwrC — American Idiot For UK No.1 When Trump Visits (@TrumpIdiotNo1) July 7, 2018 ADVERTISEMENT Sen. Tim Kaine Timothy (Tim) Michael KaineMilitary Appreciation month is a time to honor America's bravest heroes Sanders push to block arms sale to Israel doomed in Senate Mask rules spark confusion, tensions in Congress MORE (D-Va.) last week also cited the Green Day hit in mocking Trump. In response to reports that Trump sent North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a copy of the Elton John song "Rocket Man," the senator joked that Kim should return the favor by giving Trump "American Idiot." Trump is scheduled to visit the U.K. from Thursday through Sunday as he meets with Prime Minister Theresa May and other British officials. Thousands of people are expected to turn out to protest Trump's first visit since taking office. Among the planned demonstration is a large "Trump baby" blimp, which was approved by London city officials to fly over Parliament. Trump will largely steer clear of London during his stay, but the White House disputed that it was to avoid the likely protests.<doc-sep>
USA TODAY Welcome to a new kind of tension, President Trump. As the U.S. leader began his first official visit to the United Kingdom Thursday, Green Day's 2004 punk-protest anthem "American Idiot" re-entered the British pop chart, where it currently sits at No. 18. It's faring considerably better over on the British Amazon best-seller list, where it's No. 1. In the interest of historical accuracy, the song, which was released the summer before the 2004 election, and the album of the same name were actually inspired by the first term of President George W. Bush and his administration's rush to war with Iraq in 2003 over claims of weapons of mass destruction that were later debunked. However, the song deals primarily with the issue of fascism in general, with lyrics like "don't want a nation under the new mania / And can you hear the sound of hysteria? / The subliminal mind-(expletive) America." The U.K. campaign was spearheaded by a Twitter account called American Idiot for UK No. 1 When Trump Visits. "Want to annoy Donald Trump and Nigel Farage this week?" it asked in a tweet posted earlier this week. "Buy a download of 'American Idiot' by Green Day, then keep streaming it, get watching the official video on Youtube, too. Keep doing that until midnight on Thursday. Why? Because if enough people in the U.K. do this, it will create enough sales to be the official No. 1 single on the very day Trump lands on U.K. soil." "American Idiot" is far from the only high-profile protest on display: Trump was also greeted by the now famous Trump baby blimp as well as a crop circle bearing a crude message in Russian. The only problem: He may not see them because he's traveling between destinations by helicopter. Representatives for Green Day did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.