Thursday morning saw around 100,000 anti-capitalist protesters in the streets of Hamburg, Germany, in the lead-up to the G20 Summit in the city. Due to the protests, First Lady Melania Trump was unable to leave the guesthouse where she and U.S. President Donald Trump are staying in the city.
Trumps staying in a government-owned guesthouse
As reported by Fox News, the presidential couple is currently staying in a government-owned guesthouse in Hamburg, after a snafu with their hotel booking in the city. The Hamburger Abendblatt reports that the White House had waited too long to make a booking for them in the city, leading to every luxury hotel in the city fully booked, for the most part, due to the G20 Summit.
The New York Daily News reports that some of the guests at the summit, including King Salman from Saudi Arabia, had booked entire hotels for themselves and their staff making accommodation even more difficult to find. That report also mentioned that, while Trump controls many hotels in his own name, he currently has none in Hamburg.
First lady unable to leave the guesthouse due to G20 protests
Trump's spokeswoman told a German language news service Focus that Melania has no security clearance to leave the guesthouse while her husband is at the G20, due to the ongoing protests in the streets of the city and that it was "unfortunate."
Police won't clear @FLOTUS to leave residence in Hamburg right now b/c of protests, her spox confirms: ""It's unfortunate."
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) July 7, 2017
However, the first lady was thinking of the protesters during her time in the guesthouse, sending a tweet to say she is thinking of those hurt in the protests and hoping that everyone involved stayed safe.The first lady is also unable to attend any of the spouse events during the conference.
Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) July 7, 2017
The First Lady was scheduled to participate in G-20 spouse events, but police were unable to give clearance to leave because of protests.
— NPR (@NPR) July 7, 2017
19,000 police on duty for the G20 with reinforcements being called in
According to German police, almost 100,000 protesters were demonstrating in the Hamburg streets ahead of the G20, with 29 protesters detained so far.
Reportedly 79 police officers have been injured in the protests, with three officers hospitalized. While police had boosted their presence in the city ahead of the summit, more officers were called in late on Thursday as the protests began to escalate.
Focus reports that calls have also been made for reinforcements from other federal states.
According to that report, some 19,000 police officers are currently on duty during the Hamburg Summit. It was also reported that hundreds of protesters are already on their way to Berlin.
The meeting is the first G20 gathering for Trump since he announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. The U.S. president met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday and dined that evening with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On Trump's Friday agenda is a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
