Baltimore Rolls Out the Rats for Trump

President Trump made his first visit to Baltimore since he called the city a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" where "no human being would want to live." The welcome wasn't warm. "Welcome rat king," signs held by demonstrators said, the AP reports. "Trump is the real rat!" a crowd gathered in a park chanted. Drivers honked in support. The appearance drew counterprotesters, including several Bikers for Trump. A retired construction worker who said he grew up in the city said, per the Washington Post, "Everything Trump said about Baltimore is true."

Trump wasn't going to see much of the city. He was just there to give a speech Thursday night to Republicans in a hotel on the waterfront. The president had knocked Baltimore in July as part of an attack on Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat. The White House said this visit was scheduled before those tweets. A reporter asked Trump as he left the White House what his message to Baltimore residents would be, but he didn't say. Mayor Jack Young, a Democrat, said, "We're a welcoming city, and he's welcome to be here." (More Baltimore stories.)