President Trump was greeted by protests and jeers on Wednesday evening as he arrived at Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for his first reelection fundraiser.
As the presidential motorcade pulled up to the hotel — just blocks away from the White House — demonstrators booed and waved signs, some assailing Republican efforts to overhaul the country’s healthcare system and others taking aim at the Trump administration’s environmental policies.
At Trump DC hotel, where protesters boo and chant “SHAME” as the presidential motorcade arrives for Trump reelection fundraiser tonight pic.twitter.com/YZeTRgPsxB
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) June 28, 2017
{mosads}Trump’s fundraiser comes less than six months into his presidency — more than two years earlier than former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush held their first reelection fundraisers.
Also stirring controversy is the decision to bar members of the press from attending the $35,000 per person fundraiser.
The event was initially set to be closed to the press. But White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders briefly reversed that policy to allow the White House press pool. Shortly after that decision had been announced, however, Sanders said the event was once again closed to members of the media.
Obama typically allowed reporters to attend his fundraisers while he was delivering formal remarks.
The Trump White House has come under fire from reporters in recent weeks for curbing the frequency of on-camera daily press briefings.