By Diana Martinez | Editor
President Trump’s fund-raising visit to Los Angeles was efficient. He arrived Wednesday afternoon and left by Thursday morning.
While this was his first visit to California since his election, his departure couldn’t have been soon enough for Angelenos who found themselves in traffic jams made difficult not only by rain but by the many street closures that accommodated the President’s motorcade route.
Organizers said the difficulty of getting to location of his fundraiser because of the street closures and the poor weather also discouraged many people, especially after they learned that they would be kept so far away from the location and the hotel that Trump wouldn’t see or hear them.
The demonstrations plan-ned in Beverly Hills and at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where Trump stayed overnight, numbered in the hundreds — not the thousands of people that were expected.
Trump supporters however, positioned themselves near the protesters, and while some verbal insults were exchanged, there were no serious incidents.
In addition to protest signs, some carried unflattering blowup Trump balloons — one depicted him holding a KKK hood.
Those who attended the Trump fundraiser paid up to to $250,000 to attend the event at the Beverly Hills home of Ed Glazer, co-chairman of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The money raised will go to a joint fundraising committee that benefits Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Before making his way to L.A., Trump went to the US- Mexico border to inspect eight towering prototypes for his long-sought wall. He said he preferred a fully concrete wall because it was the hardest to climb but then said the wall needed to be “see-through.”
During his stop in San Diego he took the chance to take more swings at Gov. Jerry Brown and the state of California for its sanctuary policies which, according to Trump, put the “entire nation at risk.”
Trump is at odds with Gov. Brown and California policy makers who refuse to offer help federal agents detain those suspected of being in this country illegally.