Thousands of protesters march in reaction to the upset election of Trump over Clinton in the race for President of the United States in Los Angeles, California, United States. Hundreds of Angelenos have been arrested in recent days and some have vandalised property but the vast majority of the thousands of protesters have remain peaceful. — AFP photo
Thousands of protesters beseige Trump Tower and march in other US cities for a fourth day
NEW YORK: President-elect Donald Trump was expected to huddle with advisers at his Manhattan residence yesterday, plotting next moves after thousands of protesters besieged Trump Tower and marched in other US cities for a fourth day.
The demonstrations have become daily affairs following Trump’s upset defeat of rival Hillary Clinton, who blamed FBI director James Comey for her loss during a conference call to campaign donors.
Comey, who in late October re-opened a probe into her emails, had “stopped our momentum,” she told supporters, according to US media.
The move, she said, cleared the way for a victory for Trump, who appears to be making some headway in forming a new administration.
Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told reporters his appointment of a White House chief of staff was ‘imminent’ and that Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus was among the candidates for the key post.
Trump has sought to strike a conciliatory tone since his election sent a shockwave
around the world, announcing Friday he no longer intended to completely scrap Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, Obamacare.
“This will prove to be a great time in the lives of ALL Americans. We will unite and we will win, win, win!” he tweeted Saturday.
The news came as a crowd of more than 10,000 people marched toward Trump Tower in Manhattan amid cries of ‘Trump is NOT my president’.
In Los Angeles, as many as 10,000 people turned out for a march in the city’s downtown after a night of protests that ended in several hundred arrests.
And thousands more marched peacefully in Chicago, walking past Trump’s skyscraper which is emblazoned with his name in giant letters.
New York’s Trump Tower has been the epicentre of furious activity as the Trump team fleshes out his cabinet picks and works to fill hundreds of other top government jobs.
“He’s receiving many visitors,” Conway said. “These are exciting times.”
Among those seen entering the tower Saturday were Nigel Farage, whose UK Independence Party backed the Brexit vote that stunned Britons just as Trump’s victory did many Americans. Conway said his meeting with Trump was ‘very productive’.
“They absolutely had an opportunity to talk about freedom and winning and what this all means for the world,” she said.
Also entering the building was the provocative documentary filmmaker Michael Moore — whose impromptu effort to meet with Trump was blocked by Secret Service agents.
Marion Marechal-Le Pen, a rising star in France’s far-right National Front and niece to its leader, Marine Le Pen, said Saturday she had contacted the Trump team about working with them.
Although Trump’s election has set off alarm bells in many world capitals, it has been warmly welcomed by Europe’s surging far-right movements.
Around the world, Trump’s every move is being scrutinized for clues as to how the political novice will govern.
His U-turn on Obamacare — which candidate Trump had branded a ‘disaster’ — was prompted by his White House meeting with the outgoing president a day earlier.
Trump told The Wall Street Journal he may maintain some of the program’s more popular elements, such as a ban on insurance companies denying coverage because of so-called pre-existing health conditions.
This marked one of several moves by Trump and his advisers away from his more sweeping campaign positions.
Asked by the paper whether he would, as threatened, name a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state, Trump deflected, saying his priorities were ‘health care, jobs, border control, tax reform’.
Not long ago Trump was leading crowds in chants of ‘Lock her up!’ — AFP