US President Donald Trump show makes stop in Belgium

Red carpet (under construction) for Trump. The King gives himself the honor in the castle of Brussels

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump did not have a good opinion of Brussels. He had been in town 20 years ago. "A very beautiful city, but now it is like living in a hellhole," said Trump in a TV interview in January 2016. The xenophobic populist wanted to describe the dangers he had created in many Muslim migrants.

After the Islamic terrorist attacks in March 2016, today's president put a lot to the fore. On the 23rd of March, he told NBC, "Belgium is no longer Belgium, Belgium is a horror show, it is all because there is no assimilation, you do not want the laws we have At a certain point, how much can you bear of it? "

King, EU and NATO on the visitor list

Now President Donald Trump will visit the "Hellhole", because Brussels is the seat of NATO's Defense Alliance and the European Union. Whether he will change his mind after his brief visit of 36 hours is uncertain. From Brussels itself he does not get much to see because of the extreme safety precautions anyway. Unlike his predecessor Barack Obama, Donald Trump and his wife Melania do not stay in a Brussels hotel, but in the American embassy. It is only a few hundred meters from the Royal Palace and the European Union. The whole area is covered by a wide area.

In the palace Trump will meet the King of the Belgians for a courtesy visit. In the building of the Council of the European Union, President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are expecting an approximately 30-minute exchange of views. The summit with the 27 allied NATO countries takes place at the new headquarters of the alliance in the suburb of Evere. Again, Trump will hardly meet Brussels citizens or other Belgians because of the highest security level.Streets are blocked widely. Subways and trams. Even the air traffic to the nearby international airport Zaventem is restricted.The entry flights were moved.

Maximum security

The mayor of Brussels, Yvan Mayeur, said on Tuesday that some 4,000 extra policemen were involved in the two Trump visits. A terrorist attack is always expected. The highest safety level was required. "You can not do more more," says Mayeur. This is why the security concept has not been tightened or changed after the recent attack in Manchester, said the Belgian Minister of the Interior, Jan Jambon. "We have to be extremely vigilant," said Jambon, the Belgian radio station RTBF. The terrorist warning center in Belgium has managed the situation.

A public appearance trumps is not provided. His predecessor, Obama, had given a speech in a theater during his last visit. The new American president will also be extremely taciturn against the press. A correct press conference, which might raise questions about his domestic political difficulties regarding the expulsion of the FBI director James Comey, is not foreseen.

Oppositions meet

EU diplomats were somewhat nervous before visiting the rather unpredictable guest. How, for example, will he react to the exuberantly cordial nature of the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who embraces and nurtures everyone who gets it? Politically, however, Juncker and Trump could hardly be further apart. The nationalist Trump against the Pan-European Juncker. Isolationism against free trade. Illiberal against liberal. The Europeans want to talk with Trump about free trade. Donald Trump wants the European NATO allies clear financial commitments and more commitment in the joint fight against the terrorist organization "Islamic State".

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had already visited Trump in Washington and prepared the meeting of the 28 heads of state and government in Brussels. Stoltenberg was glad that Trump had regularly declared his loyalty to NATO since his inauguration and gave the alliance a sense, even if he feels financially superior.

The NATO meeting will not bring far-reaching resolutions. The reason for the meeting is actually the opening of the new headquarters of the alliance, which is almost ready for occupation after seven years of construction. Perhaps the building investor and real estate developer Trump will be interested in the fact that the construction period had to be extended, the budget was over 300 million euro, and the communication technology in the huge building complex for 4000 employees serious problems.

For the sake of security, NATO does not speak of a genuine "summit", but only of a "special meeting" of the heads of state and government. Apart from the big round, Donald Trump wants to meet the new French President Emmanuel Maron for a four-eye meeting.

With pink wool caps for women's rights: Tanja Gohlert protested against Trump

Demonstration

This Wednesday, a demonstration in Brussels against Donald Trump is announced, according to the organizers, 20,000 people are expected. Tanja Göhler is also present. She has worked with other women's rights activists and knallrosa "pussy hats" knitted. With the woolen hats, hundreds of thousands of women protested in the US on the day after Trump's launch against his anti-feminist and xenophobic sayings. "It is not just about women's rights, but gays, lesbians, environmentalists, gays, lesbians, environmental activists." All the people who want to show that they are not in agreement with the direction of the policy that is being made at the moment, "said Tanja Gohlert during the preparations For demonstration in conversation with Deutsche Welle. "It is about our future.