Protesters in Switzerland raged against President Donald Trump ahead of his visit to the country for the annual World Economic Forum.
The center of Zurich served as the backdrop to demonstrations on Monday evening where protesters carried “Trump not welcome” and “Put Trumpster in the dumpster” placards. At the front of the crowd, several people clutched a massive sign reading, “NO WEF! NO OLIGARCHY! NO IMPERIALIST WARS!”
As they marched through the streets of the Swiss economic nerve center, a U.S. flag was also burned by masked men as police looked on. Protesters set fire to several objects and targeted American businesses, including the luxury car brand Cadillac. “F--- Trump” graffiti was also scrawled on walls, and one protester carried a sign saying, “Trump for prison.”
Police stepped in when the protests grew rowdier, and three officers were injured by fireworks and stones. Public transport came to a standstill as marchers engaged in a sit-in protest on the road near the main train station, Hauptbahnhof.
According to the Swiss publication 20 Minuten, police lost patience soon after 9 p.m. local time, blasting protesters with water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. Protesters were injured, but it was not immediately clear how many or the extent of their injuries.
The demonstration, ostensibly to oppose the World Economic Forum, took on an anti-U.S. tone in the wake of the president’s musing about seizing Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally. Trump, 79, is set to touch down in Switzerland on Wednesday.
The forum is expected to be dominated by Trump’s turbulent international policy, including the surprise operation in Venezuela that sent its president, Nicolas Maduro, to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges. Trump has also reignited his desire to incorporate Canada into the U.S., posting mocking images on the subject on social media late Monday.
Davos could be full of awkward moments for Trump, as he’ll encounter the world leaders whose private texts he leaked in a bizarre posting frenzy overnight. One victim of Trump’s trigger-happy posting was French President Emmanuel Macron. “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” read Macron’s message to Trump, who later threatened France with soaring tariffs.
Macron infuriated Trump by rejecting his invitation to join his so-called “Board of Peace,” and speaking out against Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on eight European allies until the U.S. secures its “complete and total purchase” of Greenland.
Macron then took the podium at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, warning that the world is moving away from the rule of law in the international arena.
Trump also revealed a boot-licking message from NATO leader Rutte. “Mr. President, dear Donald - what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible,” the message reads. “I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine,” Rutte wrote. “I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Cant wait to see you. Yours, Mark.”
E.U. chief Ursula von der Leyen has remained a strong voice against Trump. In Davos on Tuesday, she vowed that Europe’s response to his repeated threats on Greenland would be “unflinching.”
