U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Brussels on Thursday morning for meetings at the European Union Headquarters. He is said to be meeting with the president of the EU Council, Donald Tusk, along with the president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. After having once dubbed Brussels a ‘hellhole,’ due to Muslim immigration and EU terror threats, Trump further threatened to abandon the EU, so it might not be the most comfortable experience for the U.S. President.

Trump met by 9,000 protesters in Brussels

As reported by NBC News, as the U.S.

president landed in Brussels, he was met by around 9,000 protesters carrying placards with certain messages. One read “Get the hell out of our hole,” while others simply told Trump he is not welcome in Brussels, among other strong messages.

Amnesty International was also out in force to protest the Trump administration's policies.

However, despite the protests, Trump was seemingly warmly greeted by EU leaders and officials, even though he had openly cheered the U.K.’s vote to leave the EU last year.

Dubbed “Mr Brexit” at the time, Trump had also slammed the EU alliance, calling it a “vehicle for Germany.” Since taking office, however, he has calmed his anti-EU rhetoric, praising the EU alliance as being “wonderful” and stating that a strong Europe is important, both to him and to the U.S.

Meeting set with French President Emmanuel Macron

Later on Thursday Trump is set to meet with the new French President Emmanuel Macron, which could also be a little uncomfortable, as he had previously showed support for Marine Le Pen in the lead up to the election.

While Le Pen was once described by a French court to be a “fascist,” Trump believed she was the strongest candidate in the French presidential race.

NATO meeting on the agenda for Donald Trump

The U.S. president will then have his first meeting with NATO, a pact Trump has been considering pulling out of, as he believes other countries are not contributing their fair share. Up until now, the new U.S. president has refused to commit to Article 5, under which NATO members vow to defend each other when required. However, as reported by the New York Daily News, as with his EU leanings, Trump is changing gears relating to NATO too.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly said on Wednesday that the U.S.

does continue to support Article 5, but that Trump still requires other NATO nations to meet their obligations in spending a minimum two percent of those countries’ domestic product on defense.

While Trump is in Brussels he will be unveiling a memorial to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a moment which saw the only time in NATO’s history that the Article 5 mutual pledge was invoked. To end his visit, Trump will leave Brussels late on Thursday to head for a two-day visit to Sicily for the G-7 meetings.
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