'Wish you weren't here': Hawaii prepares to welcome Trump [View all]
HONOLULU — There’s a popular postcard of Hawaii that shows the blue waters of Waikiki Beach and the famed Diamond Head with the greeting “Aloha” — a symbol of the open-arms, easygoing way of life touted by the state.
But this week, a different image has spread around the islands through fliers and social media. It shows the same picture with a green scoreboard: “Hawaii 3, Trump 0” — a nod to the state’s judicial defeats of the president’s travel ban — under the words, “Wish you weren’t here.”
When President Donald Trump arrives in Honolulu on Friday, he’ll be in enemy territory. This is still Obama country, a place where the former president was born and raised, and tourists continue to flock to his childhood haunts. The islands, where 30 percent of voters supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election — the lowest of any state — are ones the president has long derided. For years he led the “birther” movement that sowed doubt that Obama was born here. Trump has railed for months against a Honolulu judge who repeatedly struck down his travel ban.
Presidential visits always bring concerns of gridlock and protest and give the White House a chance to meet with federal and state officials, items on Trump’s list for his visit that will feature tours of military and historic sites. But with Trump, the stakes of a one-day stop in Honolulu ahead of his five-country Asia tour seem higher because he will be in a state that ignores or challenges him at every turn.
Read more: http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/state-wire/wish-you-weren-t-here-hawaii-prepares-welcome-trump
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