Birthday boy Donald Trump flies back to Washington and is greeted by fresh wave of protests 

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Donald Trump landed back in Washington DC on Sunday night after celebrating his 74th birthday at his New Jersey golf course alongside daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner – but his wife Melania was nowhere to be seen.

And the president arrived back to find fresh protests outside of the White House, who smashed a birthday cake to mark the day.

Trump, who on Saturday addressed graduating cadets at West Point, left Bedminster on Sunday accompanied by aides including Ivanka and Kushner, as well as social media chief Dan Scavino. The White House said Deputy Staff Secretary Catherine Keller was also traveling.

But there was no sign of the first lady, and unlike Ivanka she did not wish him a happy birthday on Twitter. 

Ivanka had earlier tweeted a picture of herself as a child sat on her father’s knee with the caption: ‘Happy birthday @realdonaldtrump! Love you!’ 

The First Lady’s notable absence came as a new book confirmed a longtime rumor that she renegotiated her prenup agreement with Donald Trump before she moved into the White House after he won the presidency

Melania’s office have branded the book, ‘The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump,’ by Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan, as ‘fiction.’

Trump’s return to DC on Sunday was marked by protests outside the White House, where crowds have gathered for almost three weeks following the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. 

Thousands had marched on Sunday morning from the National Museum of African American History and Culture to the area in front of the White House.

The area outside the White House had infamously been cleared with gas and flash bangs on June 1 so Trump could have a photo opportunity at the historic St John’s Episcopal Church.

The area in front of the church was a sea of protest and praying on Sunday, as chants, singing and preaching was heard from Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian faith leaders.

Black Baptists and black Pentecostals were among those demonstrating Sunday morning, and Rev. Dr. William J. Barber joined in the broad effort to bless the protest movement later in the day.

Barber, co-chair of a faith-based advocacy group called Poor People’s Campaign, also delivered a stinging sermon from Washington National Cathedral — with 14,000 viewers watching live online.

He said Floyd’s killing and the disproportionate deaths of minorities and the poor during the pandemic are consistent with America’s history and its ‘unnecessary accepting of death.’

He mentioned the deaths of Native Americans, of Africans brought as slaves, and of children who suffered and died due to child labor practices.

‘This raw truth needs to be heard in this country because America has a long history of death that leads us to this moment!’ he said. 

‘Until we face it we can’t repent right. America, you’re killing yourself!’

Protesters danced in the streets, and flew inflatable Trump baby balloons over the area. 

The protests in DC were not the only ones to take place on Sunday. 

Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, with protests from New York City to Montana and Los Angeles.

In LA, Hollywood Boulevard was shut down as a large crowd marched down the famous avenue, calling for justice for Floyd and others.

The march, during Pride month, was organized by the city’s LGBTQIA+ community. 

Yet Trump’s birthday was greeted with a more festive atmosphere in Florida.

Hundreds of people took to the waters of Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, waving flags in a flotilla celebrating his 74th.

Dubbed the ‘Trumpilla’, the event in Jacksonville saw more than 1,000 boats join in.

‘It’s all about patriotism,’ organizer Esther Byrd told News4Jax. 

‘We love our country, we get frustrated about the negativity. We do what we can and we wave our flags and sing God Bless America together.’ 

The rally comes days after Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced that Jacksonville will host part of the Republican National Convention, in August. 

In Tampa around 200 boats joined a ‘Trumpilla’ organized near Apollo Beach, while a group set sail from Fort Lauderdale to pass Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.  

John Ross, co-organizer of South Florida’s Boaters for Trump, said the flotillas started as a way for Trump supporters to get the electric feeling of a Trump rally when the events were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

‘We are the silent majority,’ he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 

‘We don’t make a spectacle of ourselves normally to get attention, but there are a lot of people like me around the country.’

Supporters of Trump’s opponent in the November election, Joe Biden, also held their own rallies in boats, cars and motorbikes on Sunday, nicknamed ‘Ridin’ with Biden’. 

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