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Video: 9,000 attend 'Trump Not Welcome' protest in Brussels
Police estimate that 9,000 people attended a "Trump Not Welcome" protest to coincide with the US president's arrival in Brussels on Wednesday evening.
Many expats and dual US-Belgian citizens were in attendance to show their disapproval of the president.
Former California resident Pauline Manos said she came with friends to show the other side of Americans. "Actually there is more to America than Mr Trump, hence 'love Trumps hate'," Manos said, referring to the slogan on her sign.
Others attended with a specific cause in mind. Former Pennsylvanian Alicia Mottur said her greatest concern was for the environment.
“I’m disgusted with what Trump’s doing to the environment,” she said. “He’s destroying the environment and to me that is the essence of America.”
Others, like George Perlov, echoed Mottur’s disgust, holding a sign that read, “Proud American, ashamed of my ‘so-called’ leaders.”
“I’m just so angry and upset by the state of the US political situation right now,” Perlov said. “He’s basically making a country for the rich and taking away the rights and service of the poor in the country.”
The protest was originally organised through Facebook by Natalie Eggermont, a student at the Free University of Brussels, VUB. She, along with other students, managed the Facebook page which generated more than 21,000 followers online.
The protest began at 17.00 near Brussels North railway station. Prior to the march, activists took the stage to speak about several social justice topics, from the Dakota Access Pipeline to women’s rights.
After speeches, the crowd began to march through the city. Multiple organisations were present, marching as small groups. Anti-NATO, pro-women and all-round civil rights groups marched through the streets with everything from pink-knitted “pussy hats” to rainbow flags.
Trump is still scheduled to attend the Nato Summit on Thursday to finish up the last leg of his nine-day international tour.
Comments
Protests have 0 impact on Trump.
Quite the contrary, Anon2. Not only do protests have an impact (witness Leipzig 1989 for example), but Trump is probably the world leader who is most sensitive and insecure about his public image. Just the thought that he might see the protest on CNN was enough for me to join in :-D
Larry...You think a thick skinned Trump is going to care about what a few politically correct Belgians think? You're deluded. Personally, I think it more of a pity that people are not protesting about immoral and unworkable US law being imposed on the whole of the world at huge expense to everyone except the US!
FATCA remains the worlds biggest unheard of scandal on this planet. If you want to see a government out of control and abusing it's power, look at FATCA. Don't stop at the headline "this is a mutual tax information sharing agreement" but look deeper.
This is an incredibly expensive imposition of a one way tax grab by the USA, one that will cost far more than it will ever raise in immoral and illegitimate taxes and fines on OUR residents and citizens, and one that makes ALL "US persons" second class Belgians, Brits, Frenchmen...In the countries they call home and where they are frequently citizens.
Imagine, all local privacy and discrimination laws suspended for all persons the US has decided, at it's sole discretion, shall be US tax payers and guess what? The worlds leaders have sacrificed these people to the USA in order to protect the banks.
The USA said do it or we close your banks.
I was wondering what the USA would do next now it's discovered the power to tell the world what to do or it will close down their banks, and I didn't need to wait long.
Elise Bean, one of the principle architects of FATCA was asked what she will do to prevent the banks locking "US persons" out of financial services around the world and this was her answer.
Any bank refusing services to a "US person" should be locked out of the US bond market.
There are now refugees all over the world, about nine million of them that are looking from protection an unworkable and inhumane tax system of a country where they don't live, and we won't do it because the USA will close our banks if we do.
The cost to the UK of imposing this law amounts to around £500 per UK household, a law that makes any "US person" a second class Brit and allows the USA to tax that UK resident. Same for every country in the world.
Now THAT is worth protesting about.
A lot of people are mad at Trump's decision making. It's something that people and the President will not understand. CustomWriting students are looking forward to attend this protest in Brussels.