Only a handful made the trip to witness the arrival on Monday of former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower, drowned in the hubbub of the famous Fifth avenue de New York, invaded by police and journalists.
“Trump or death”, said a banner displayed on the sidewalk facing the former leader's tower of State, in the midst of about twenty of his partisans. Donald Trump is expected in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday for his formal indictment.
“I'm here to support Donald Trump, the former and future president of the United States,” said Vito Dichiara, a 71-year-old retiree who presents himself as a former Fox News cameraman.
Around , some wore the now famous red cap that has become emblematic of candidate Trump in the campaign.
“Let's Go Brandon,” read another banner, referring to the coded anti-Biden slogan that became popular in the fall of 2021. “Chinese-Americans for Trump,” read another.
Most of these supporters didn't even see their hero enter Trump Tower through the entrance to the “45” restaurant, located on 56th Street, in withdrawal from Fifth Avenue.
At the time of the arrival of the owner of the premises, who waved his hand while getting out of his vehicle, access to the building as well as to the sidewalk had been prohibited by police officers, present by the dozens in the neighborhood.
A few minutes earlier, learning that the resident of Mar-a-Lago was about to join Midtown, the center of Manhattan, the small crowd of trumpeters had made a little more noisy, singing “We Love Trump! We Love Trump!”.
But even raising their voices, this handful of mostly middle-aged supporters were easily drowned out by the din of the street, between the incessant broom of buses, cars, and two helicopters hovering over Trump Tower.
“Lock him up”
The scene caused passers-by to react, amused or upset. “It's the best show in town”, slipped one of them, who did not want to decline his identity.
“Even Shakespeare can't do that. »
The opponents who came especially for the occasion were even less numerous than the pro-Trump, scattered here and there, without forming a real group.
“It's time to go where you know!” (Time To Go You Know Where), read the sign held up by Marni Halasa, dressed in a tight red top, covered in fake $100 bills, and fake devil horns.
“Lock up -it” and “throw the key”, said the two signs made by Robert Hoatson, another opponent.
An almost ordinary day near Trump Tower, which became a magnet for a whole gallery of protesters pro and anti-Trump, often colorful, since the billionaire's election more than six years ago.
It will have been memorable, on the other hand, for the students of Jennifer Massey, professor of music from Algoma, Wisconsin.
His young singers, whose arrival had been planned for a year, sang in a lobby of Trump Tower, an event unrelated to the arrival of Donald Trump, whom they will not have met.
“We come from a small town”, explained the teacher, “so having the opportunity to be part of something this magnitude is very important for children. »