Trump gave a speech that was met with some claps and cheers as he thanked veterans for their service. But raucous boos and chants jeering Trump could also be heard throughout.
Trump, the first sitting president to participate in the parade, addressed the crowd at Madison Square Park in Manhattan, just a couple of miles down Fifth Avenue from Trump Tower, the glass-and-steel skyscraper that has been his primary residence since 1983.
Hours before the president was set to appear, some supporters had already gathered near the park, many of them wearing hats bearing Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
But protesters had also gathered, a number of them from an anti-Trump group, Rise and Resist. They carried signs calling for Trump’s impeachment and shouted “shame” repeatedly.
In one act, people in buildings near the park had also posted signs in their windows bearing the words “impeach” and “convict.”
Elliot Crown, 47, came to the protest wearing army fatigues, a clown nose and a farcical oversized mustache. He and a friend carried a sign reading “Operation Bone Spur,” a reference to a diagnosis that allowed Trump to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.
“He’s always pretending to be something he’s not,” Crown said. “And he certainly isn’t a supporter of veterans.”
Trump has generally received more support from veterans than from the public at large. According to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center, 57% of veterans said they approved of the way Trump was leading the military, compared with 41% of adults overall.
Last year, an Associated Press poll found that 56% of veterans said they approved of the job Trump was doing as president, compared with 42% of the general public.
Still, Trump has been criticized by some veterans groups over incidents where he was perceived as being disrespectful to those who had served. During the campaign and his presidency, he frequently attacked Sen. John McCain, saying the onetime Navy pilot was “not a war hero” and criticizing the now-deceased senator for his record on military and veterans’ issues.
Trump also drew condemnations after he disparaged the parents of a slain Muslim soldier who had strongly denounced Trump during the Democratic National Convention.
Trump’s rise to the ranks of the rich and famous was inextricably linked to the city he called home. He was born in Queens and built his real estate empire in Manhattan, quickly becoming a fixture in the city’s tabloid papers and sprinkling his name on buildings across the region.
Even as he began his presidential campaign, Trump used the city as his backdrop, starting his eventual journey to the White House in the lobby of Trump Tower.
But three years into his presidency, Trump is deeply unpopular in New York City. His name was removed from residential high-rises and a hotel in SoHo after numerous complaints, and even the Central Park skating rinks that his company runs diminished the presence of his name on signs.
The president’s returns to the city have often been met with protests. Earlier this month, Trump swung by an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Madison Square Garden, where he was met by both boos and cheers.
In late September, Trump filed court documents saying that he was becoming a resident of Florida and that Mar-a-Lago Club was his primary dwelling. On Twitter, he said that while he cherished New York, the city with which he had become closely associated during his rise to fame, he had been “treated very badly” by elected officials there.
“Few have been treated worse,” he said. “I hated having to make this decision, but in the end it will be the best for all concerned.”
Trump has frequently sparred publicly with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats who are critical of the president’s policies.
When asked about Trump’s return to New York last week, de Blasio told reporters that it was important to focus on veterans at the parade, not politics.
“This is not about him,” de Blasio said. He later added: “It should not be politicized. It should not be a spectacle. If he’s really coming here to truly honor veterans, God bless him.”
This article originally appeared in
.