After prior attempt to enter U.S. illegally, convicted far-right agitator from UK is welcomed in Washington
First stop in the USA, meeting up with the legend that is @GenFlynn 🇬🇧 🤝🏻 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Gf1Lw0EENs
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) February 19, 2026
Tommy Robinson has travelled to America – despite a reported travel ban and tough border controls on travellers with criminal convictions.
In a series of videos and posts on X, the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said he had “landed in the United States of America” and that he was there to “warn” the USA of “what’s coming”.
The former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) has been at the centre of efforts to inflame tensions in the UK against Muslims and some migrants for more than a decade, but has enjoyed an increasingly mainstream popularity online in recent years.
His online activism has also seen his support grow in the USA, and he now counts the likes of X owner Elon Musk among his supporters, whom this paper previously revealed paid for some of Robinson’s legal fees.
Robinson was previously denied a US visa when he was invited to speak in the country for an event in 2018. It was understood he had been banned from flying to the US due to multiple criminal convictions and a failed attempt to enter the country using a friend’s passport in 2012.
But now, Robinson has posted footage showing himself flying from London Heathrow to Washington, DC, including publishing a video speaking from the US capital.
“That’s right, I’m in the United States of America. Can you see how happy I am? It’s been a long time coming,” he said in the video.
“In 2017, I was given an invite by ten members of Congress to come and visit here and talk about the decline in free speech in Britain, which now the entire world knows about,” he added.
“But back then, 45 British MPs wrote to the American embassy in London, and they blocked my travel…. Well, tough shit. I’m now here.”
It is not known who lifted Robinson’s ban and granted his visa, which he reportedly received hours before his flight departed.
“This was all so last-minute,” he said in one clip. “I got the message this morning. I didn’t have a visa until one o’clock today and I was at the airport at two.”
He said he was instructed to go to the US embassy in London with his passport, where he was given his visa.
Robinson is thought to have flown using a recently acquired Irish passport, which may have played a role in enabling him to travel to the US. [Continue reading…]