NEW YORK _ For the first time since his inauguration, President Donald Trump returned to his hometown Thursday _ but just barely.
Except for the drive in from the airport, Trump was hardly on land, spending most of the visit on the Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River.
But the brief visit was a big deal for New Yorkers, who turned out in dueling battalions of those who revere the president and those who revile him.
"New York hates you," was the refrain among hundreds of people who were awaiting the president's arrival near the ship.
A smaller group of supporters had its own chant: "Welcome home!"
Police kept the two groups separate behind barricades.
Larger protests had been planned in front of Trump Tower, the 58-story midtown skyscraper where Trump's wife, Melania, and youngest son, Barron, live in a triplex penthouse. But the president skipped midtown, postponing a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that was supposed to take place at a hotel near Trump Tower.
The visit was shortened because the president stayed late in Washington for a Rose Garden ceremony to mark his victory in the House vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Trump headed directly to the Intrepid. He met with Turnbull there.
Only 18 percent of New Yorkers voted for Trump, but he still seems to love the city. During the campaign, he flew back almost every night to sleep at home in Trump Tower.
Thursday night, however, he was headed to his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. He told Fox News in a recent interview that he would not sleep in New York because of the expense and complication of his security in midtown Manhattan.
