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Trump family members attend hotel opening amid protests

Politicians avoid Trump Vancouver event

There were almost as many members of the media inside Trump International Hotel and Tower on Georgia Street as there were protesters outside Tuesday morning as some family members of U.S. President Donald Trump gathered for the opening of the $360-million property.

And despite the fact reporters weren’t allowed to ask questions, that didn’t stop one journalist from shouting over the crowd and asking if there were any hurt feelings due to the fact neither Mayor Gregor Robertson nor any Vancouver city council members were in attendance at the event.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Junior and Eric are executive vice-presidents of the Trump Organization, which has a contract to run the operation of the hotel, owned by Malaysian-financed Holborn Properties.

In response to President Trump’s anti-immigration comments during his election campaign, Robertson wrote to Holborn Properties in December 2015 asking them to change the name of the building.

Eric Danziger, Joo Kim Tiah, Donald Trump Junior and Eric Trump
Eric Danziger, CEO of Trump Hotel Collection, spoke at the grand opening of Trump International Hotel and Tower, as did  Holborn's Joo Kim Tiah, Donald Trump Junior and Eric Trump. Photo Dan Toulgoet

 

Addressing the media Tuesday morning, Donald Trump Junior joked, "I'd like to thank the press — just kidding." President Trump’s dislike and distrust of the media has escalated to the point he’s banned several major American news outlets from attending White House press conferences. President Trump has also famously accused several major media outlets of producing “fake news.” So it was interesting to hear Eric Danziger, CEO of Trump Hotel Collection, at the beginning of the event recognize Vancouver as being home to the world's largest hockey stick when, in fact, it’s located in Duncan, B.C. Danziger also told the crowd Trump Tower is "the first hotel to open in Vancouver in six years.” Hotel Blu opened on Robson Street in 2014.

Outside the hotel, protesters carried signs, chanted, drummed and sang as police and officials watched from in front of the hotel, some behind glass. Protesters and passersby also used Post-it notes to attach messages to an outside wall of the hotel, including a series that spelled out “All you need is love.” Standing quietly off to one side of the protest, a young man held up a sign that read, “How does it feel to be this unwelcome in another country,” in reference to President Trump’s recent executive order calling for a temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa entering the U.S.

Tanner Fehr told the Courier he’s “deeply resentful” of the Trump family.

“I’ve been troubled by what’s been happening in the United States in the past year,” said Fehr. “I can only call it disgusting.”

Meanwhile, Grade 12 student Khalid Boudreau said he wants to see Canada become a “safe haven for Americans fleeing this totalitarian regime.”

Holding a sign that read, “Quite the blind trust you have there,” Boudreau said that whether it was the Underground Railroad — a network of secret routes and safe houses used by African American slaves to escape into free states and Canada — or draft dodgers fleeing the Vietnam War, Canada has been a symbol of refuge.

It’s a tradition he wants to see continued.

“It’s nice to see so many people here united in saying no to such a disgusting government and standing strong to make sure it doesn’t spread up here.”

sthomas@vancourier.com

@sthomas10