Thousands of protesters made their way from the Trump Plaza towers in West Palm Beach towards Mar-a-Lago Saturday evening, as the President attended the annual Red Cross gala at the estate his administration has dubbed the "Winter White House."
While Air Force One received a mostly positive greeting when landing at Palm Beach International Airport with Trump aboard for the first time Friday, the march which was planned, called off and then reorganized brought many different people with various gripes about the President together.
"I think he is going to get us into World War III," said Kevin from West Palm Beach, one of the first to arrive and one of the people who walked a flag-draped casket represent "Death to Democracy" as the group made its way down Flager Drive. "He's got the House and the Senate, why does he have to do Executive Orders?"
While there were very few Trump supporters at the starting point and virtually no resistance down the roughly 2.5 mile walk along the Intracoastal Waterway towards the President's retreat, a few dozen pro-Trump people were waiting along Southern Boulevard on Bingham Island. Local police had kept the crowds on the sidewalks to avoid traffic issues along the route but when the supporters and protesters engaged in the middle of the road approaching Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies were forced to close it down.
Many in the crowd trying to get close to where the President and his wife were holding an annual gala for the Red Cross, started in 1957 by Mar-a-Lago's original owner, came with lights, glow sticks and illuminated signs to be seen and heard as they got close to the site where the President is spending the weekend.
Just as a pyrotechnics display to cap off the Red Cross event were ending, fireworks came close to erupting along the roadway but even though a few people came face to face, there was no signs of obvious violence or property destruction seen at rallies and protests in other cities since Trump won the election in November. The closest anyone came to getting physical was when protesters ripped a "Make America Great Again
Several people from both sides thanked the police officers for keeping them safe and as the crowds began to return to downtown, many were happy with the way the event turned out.
"Peaceful protest is the way you get more message across," said Michelle from Lantana who is with the group Indivisible Palm Beach. "Vandalism and destruction is not."
There could be more demonstrations in the coming days, especially if Trump should take action on a Republican-backed proposal to repeal a law passed by former President Lyndon B. Johnson when he was a Senator which limits churches and other charitable organizations from taking partisan political positions if they have tax-exempt status.
Trump referenced the "Johnson amendment" in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. The President is expected to remain at Mar-a-Lago until Monday morning and then Air Force One will bring him back to Washington D.C.
In the meantime, the Presidential plane is providing quite the photo op for many around Palm Beach County.