Trump wraps up day in Brussels as 6000 protesters mobilise at rally
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Rally
Brussels, May 24, 2017 (dpa/NAN) U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up his official commitments on Wednesday as 6000 protesters mobilised at a rally held outside of Brussels North train station, the local police said.
Trump is on a short visit to Brussels, a city which he has referred to as a “hellhole” in the past, and is due to meet with top EU officials before attending a NATO summit on Thursday.
After arriving with his wife Melania on Wednesday afternoon, the Trumps were welcomed by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and his partner at the airport.
Both leaders then listened to a military band that performed first the Belgian and then the U.S. anthem.
Afterwards the U.S. delegation headed in a motorcade to the Belgian royal palace downtown for a meeting with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, as well as senior members of the Belgian cabinet.
Trump is accompanied by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor HR McMaster, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.
Trump is spending the rest of the day at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
Meanwhile, the so-called “Trump not welcome” protest drew 6000 protesters according to the local police.
The rally was called to draw attention to Trump’s sexism and racism, and criticize his stance on climate change and social rights, the organisers said.
Some of the protesters held banners that read “No ban, no wall”.
They were referring to Trump’s attempts to stop travellers from some majority Muslim countries from entering the U.S., and his plans to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Several metro stations will be closed until Thursday afternoon, with roadblocks in place across the city.
Water cannons and barbed wire fences have been set up in the centre.
On Thursday Trump, who supported Brexit, is due to meet representatives of the European Union as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, a passionate supporter of European integration.
Later in the day, Trump is scheduled to attend a summit at NATO, an alliance which he had called “obsolete” in the past.
After Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian Territories as well as Italy, this is the fourth leg of Trump’s first international trip.
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump is due to visit the museum of the surrealist painter Rene Magritte and a luxury handbag shop and tour the 19th century royal greenhouses at Laeken. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Grace Yussuf