Protests Planned As Trump Arrives In France For Bastille Day Celebrations

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Paris on Thursday, a day before France’s Bastille Day celebrations observed on July 14 every year. However, protesters and activists are planning to take to the streets on the French National Day in order to create a "no Trump zone."

A group called "Paris Against Trump" sent out messages on social media saying Trump was not welcome in the country. The group has planned a rally at the symbolic Place des États-Unis, which is full of memorials depicting the ties between the two nations. It was also the location of the U.S. embassy earlier, according to Sky News.

Read: Kathy Griffin’s Donald Trump Photo Scandal Continues With Secret Service Investigation

The agitators have also planned a night of dance, music and performances to commemorate the Bastille Day at the famous Place de la Republique. The diverse groups that have planned the protests are opposed to Trump’s climate change policies, his executive order or the travel ban and the anti-war groups. Protests have also been planned against French President Emmanuel Macron for inviting Trump despite the ideological differences between the two leaders.

Paris Against Trump alliance organizers said they opposed "his [Trump's] positions on the climate crisis, his international politics against migrants, his sexist speeches and behavior, his Islamophobia and racist remarks, his military plans around the world and his neo-liberalism and capitalism," according to the Independent.

Meanwhile, some protests would be directing their anger toward Macron’s reforms to labor laws. The French president said during his presidential election campaign that if he would assume the office, he would like to use executive decrees in order to modify the labor code in the country where unemployment has been on a rise, and the cost of hiring and firing has been viewed as a deterrent to investors, according to the Telegraph.

France’s National Day commemorates the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 — a turning point of the French Revolution. The Bastille Day also commemorates 100 years since the U.S. entered World War I. The French president invited Trump to the country to honor the historical co-operation between the two nations. Macron would treat Trump to a luxurious dinner at the Eiffel Tower on Friday. However, the visit could be overshadowed by the protests.

Trump's Paris visit is his second trip to Europe within a week. It has been labelled as a short getaway for the commander-in-chief from the political turmoil back in his country over the controversy regarding a meeting between his son Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Read: Emmanuel Macron, Trump Feud: French President Trolls With Make Our Planet Great Again Website

Trump is scheduled to tour Napoleon's tomb late on Thursday at the Les Invalides ahead of a meeting regarding extended security talks with the French president at the Élysée Palace. Macron and Trump will be open to questions from the media in the evening before heading to dine with their wives in a Michelin-starred restaurant on the second landing of the Eiffel Tower, CNN reported.

The leaders’ discussions will include shared diplomatic and military endeavours, focusing on counter-terrorism, but an Elysee official told the Independent that the French president would not hesitate to discuss difficult issues like Trump's combative “America First” trade policy. “The meeting won't avoid subjects on which we have different positions, such as climate and, to a certain extent, trade,” the aide said.

“I have no doubt that the presidents will talk about the state of military actions in Syria and they will talk about the future,” the aide added. Macron will be hosting Trump at the celebrations just weeks after he hosted the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Palace of Versailles in May.