Anti-Trump feelings grow
OUTSIDE NEW YORK HOME It was the US president’s first visit to his Manhattan residence since taking office earlier this year.
Several hundred angry protesters demonstrated outside Trump Tower in New York on Monday, denouncing US President Donald Trump before his first visit to his Manhattan residence since taking office more than six months ago.
After making a brief stop at the White House, the Republican commander-in-chief is spending several days in his Manhattan triplex before returning to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey to finish his first summer holiday after becoming president.
But in the predominantly Democratic-voting US financial capital, where Trump is hugely unpopular, several hundred protesters descended on Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue until police could clear the pavements.
“Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Trump the racist has to go!” sang the crowd, some holding up giant balloon letters in gold that read: FU TRUMP.
“No Trump, no KKK, no Fascist USA!” the group chanted. “Love, not hate. That’s what makes America great!”
Dozens of officers stood guard for several blocks. Police detained at least one woman protesting outside the Prada store, as angry demonstrators rounded on those in uniform, shouting: “Who do you serve?”
But Trump arrived in New York after dark, driving through the relatively empty streets of Manhattan under a heavy police presence.
No protesters could be seen from the motorcade along the way, as many were gathered on a different street from the motorcade’s route.
“Feels good to be home after seven months, but the White House is very special, there is no place like it ... and the US is really my home,” Trump said on Twitter.
“I am terrified of what country we’ve become, the fact that white supremacists, Nazis, anti-Semites feel empowered by our president,” said Lynn Gray, 68, who left banking to found her own company.
“He’s destroying everything that our forefathers worked for.”
Teacher Kevin Gallagher, 61, said he at first gave Trump “a chance” despite his dislike of the Republican.
“But this week has been truly the lowest of his presidency,” Gallagher added. “He needs to see what his fellow citizens think of him.”
Trump took heat from Democrats and Republicans alike for his initial, subdued response to a deadly weekend rally by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Under pressure to explicitly condemn the violence, Trump earlier on Monday denounced racism and slammed the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as “criminals and thugs”.
“I came here to be with the people of New York and express our anger,” said musician Ryan Egan, 28, in jeans and a grey T-shirt, who clapped and shouted with the other protesters.
Far from apologetic, the US president sounded defensive. Trump noted on Twitter he “made additional remarks on Charlottesville and realise once again that the Fake News Media will never be satisfied . ... Truly bad people!”
Trump previously visited New York in May, for just a few hours, when he dined with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. – AFP