As Donald Trump prepares to land in Chicago for his first visit to the Windy City as president on Monday, the U.S. leader should brace for a chilly reception. Protesters are expected to be out in full force for the visit, while key city leaders are planning to send their own message through their absence from the day's events.
For years now, Trump has railed against the city of Chicago after one of his rallies was shut down in the lead up to the 2016 election due to clashes between protesters and the then-presidential candidate's supporters.
Since the rally that never was, the president has taken many opportunities to bash Chicago, branding it a "disaster" and threatening to "send in the Feds" if the city didn't do more to crack down on gun violence.
The U.S. leader has repeatedly pointed to gun violence in Chicago as a way to argue against gun control reform, in addition to seeking to blame the city's leadership for failing to be tough enough on crime.
Protesters plan to make their opposition to the U.S. leader's comments known on Monday, with demonstrations planned just outside the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, where the U.S. leader is expected to hold a campaign fundraiser.
One such demonstration, organized by Indivisible Chicago, has more than 1,000 people expected to attend according to a Facebook event page.
Meanwhile, as protesters make their voices heard, key city leaders plan to speak volumes with their silence, with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot refusing to meet with the president during the visit, according to The Associated Press.
The city's top cop, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson will also be notably absent during a speech Trump is expected to deliver at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference.
Johnson has made his stance clear, telling ABC 7 on Sunday that he will be boycotting the event out of respect for Chicago's "core values as a city."
"I have to take into account, not just my personal feelings about it, but our core values as a city," he said. "We are nothing without trust and with some of our communities under siege. It just doesn't line up with our city's core values along with my personal values."
Of course, Lightfoot and Johnson are not the only ones who will be giving Trump the cold shoulder. Anti-violence activist and local pastor Michael Pfleger told The Guardian that Trump is "not welcome" in Chicago.
"He's not welcome here," said Pfleger, a pastor at St. Sabina church on the south side. "He has done nothing at all to help us in Chicago except demonize us, and we don't deserve it."
Calling on Trump to visit either the south or west sides of Chicago, which have struggled with gun violence, Pfleger said: "He makes it look as though the problem with Chicago are people in Chicago…rather than that we all have a piece in this pie."
