Baldarch INTERNATIONAL NEWS – The city of Brussels has prepared a special welcome to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is scheduled visit the Belgian capital for a NATO meeting on Wednesday 24 May. Some of the country’s most renowned artists have been commissioned to design and construct a customized flower carpet of tulips, poppies and sunflowers, which will adorn the city’s famous Grand Place for a full week. It is the first time in Belgian history that an artwork of this magnitude is dedicated to a visiting head of state.
The initiative is allegedly meant to counterbalance some of the tension around Trump’s pending visit, as the president’s planned trip to the NATO headquarters is expected to attract thousands of protesters under the banner ‘Trump not Welcome’. The city’s socialist mayor Yvan Majeur, who had previously tried to distance himself as much as possible from the controversial politician, has now declared Brussels is definitely ready to receive Trump’s delegation regardless of the president’s questionable popularity: “This beautiful project again illustrates how magnanimous the people of Brussels really are. I mean, look how fucking gorgeous this thing is. We didn’t even do that for Obama and everybody loved him, so this makes us totally awesome, whatever Mr. Trump thinks of us.”
Majeur’s comments are thought to refer to Donald Trump’s depreciative remarks about Brussels, following the terrorist attacks of 22 March 2016. Mr. Trump had referred to the EU capital as a “hellhole” while campaigning for the presidency, which political pundits are speculating might have stuck with local residents. “It makes the decision to welcome the president with such a gesture all the more remarkable,” explains America-watcher Noel Ytall. “It clearly shows the people of Brussels and Belgium are prepared to turn the other cheek here. The Grand Place has hosted some amazing floral creations before, but this looks like an absolute yellow-orange masterpiece and should in no way be seen as a subtle attempt to ridicule the 45th president.”
Mr. Trump has already responded fairly positively to the artwork in a tweet and when prompted for a comment during a press conference, he assured his uneasy hosts he would “come with the best intentions, all the greatest intentions” and that he was considering moving the people of Belgium up from “total” to “just partial losers” from now on.
(With special thanks to Amanda “Danger” Lundberg.)
