The Latest: Trump is home; protest crowd starts thinning out

The Latest on demonstrations outside Trump Tower for President Donald Trump’s return home (all times local):

10:05 p.m.

The crowd of protesters outside President Donald Trump’s New York home is thinning out and leaving following his arrival.

Thousands of protesters and dozens of supporters waited for hours Monday for Trump to return to Trump Tower for the first time since his January inauguration.

The protesters on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue carried signs with such messages as “impeach” and “stop the hate, stop the lies.” They’ve been chanting “shame, shame, shame” and “not my president!” Supporters say “God bless President Trump.”

The Republican president’s motorcade pulled up to Trump Tower from a direction that bypassed the protesters Monday night.

Trump has said he’d “love” to go home to Trump Tower more often but it’s “very disruptive to do.”

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9:45 p.m.

Police say two people have been arrested on disorderly conduct charges near Trump Tower, where a throng of demonstrators gathered as President Donald Trump headed home.

The president’s motorcade pulled up to Trump Tower on Monday night. It approached from a direction that bypassed the thousands of protesters and a far smaller group of supporters awaiting him.

The protesters carried signs with such messages as “impeach” and “stop the hate, stop the lies.” Supporters say “God bless President Trump.”

It’s the first time the Republican president has been home since his January inauguration.

Security is heavy around the skyscraper. Police have stationed sand-filled sanitation trucks as barriers around the building and layers of metal police barricades around the main entrance.

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9:10 p.m.

President Donald Trump has arrived at his New York home for the first time since his inauguration as a throng of protesters line the street.

The president’s motorcade pulled up to Trump Tower on Monday night while avoiding the protesters, who chanted “Shame, shame, shame” while awaiting him.

Thousands of protesters had lined nearby blocks of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to await him, along with a group of supporters numbering in the dozens.

The protesters carried signs with such messages as “impeach” and “stop the hate, stop the lies.” Supporters say “God bless President Trump.”

Security is heavy around the skyscraper. Police have stationed sand-filled sanitation trucks as barriers around the building and layers of metal police barricades around the main entrance.

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7:45 p.m.

About two dozen supporters of President Donald Trump are standing ready to greet him as he returns to his New York City home, where thousands of protesters also have gathered.

The Trump fans were in a pen set up by police near Trump Tower on Monday evening, chanting “God bless President Trump.” They’re carrying American flags and signs with such messages as “Trump is president” and “now is not the time for divisiveness.”

A crowd of protesters is in a similar pen standing across the sidewalk. Both sides are yelling at each other: “Go home!”

The Republican president is expected at the tower Monday night for the first time since his inauguration.

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6 p.m.

Thousands of protesters and heavy security are ready to greet President Donald Trump as he returns to his New York City home for the first time since his inauguration.

Demonstrators were in pens police erected across the street from Trump Tower by early Monday evening, hours before his expected arrival.

An inflatable caricature of Trump is rising above pedestrians on a nearby block.

Police have stationed sand-filled sanitation trucks as barriers around the skyscraper and layers of metal police barricades around the main entrance.

Among the protesters is the Rev. Jan Powell, a retired United Church of Christ minister. She says she’s bothered by the Republican president’s response to the white supremacist rally that descended into violence Saturday in Virginia.

Trump initially blamed “many sides” for the violence. He now says “racism is evil.”

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