President Donald Trump is coming home.
The native New Yorker, whose image for decades was interwoven with his brash hometown, is making his first trip back to Manhattan since taking office, returning to New York City on Thursday to mark the anniversary of an important World War II battle by making a speech on a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked on the Hudson River.
Several protests are planned across the city, including near the USS Intrepid and his home at Trump Tower, threatening to snarl Manhattan’s streets and produce images of a city rejecting its most famous native son.
The New York Police Department is gearing up for the visit with an eye toward those anti-Trump demonstrations. The turnout is uncertain, but activists are using Facebook and other social media to call on protesters to gather at several locations throughout the city to voice opposition to his immigration, health care and other policies.
Hundreds of police officers will be assigned to secure Trump’s Intrepid appearance, with more on standby on surrounding blocks if needed to make arrests. A show of force is already a fixture at Trump Tower, where the Secret Service and heavily armed NYPD officers have used barricades, checkpoints and street closings to secure the iconic skyscraper where the president has a penthouse apartment.
The president is not expected to spend a night at Trump Tower but may make a stop there before spending the weekend at his golf club an hour away in Bedminister, New Jersey. His homecoming is to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major World War II naval conflict in which American and Australian forces halted a strategic advance by the Japanese military.
Trump will deliver a speech on the U.S.S. Intrepid, a World War II-era aircraft carrier and hold meetings with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia. The meeting will be Trump’s first meeting with Turnbull since they held a contentious phone call in February.
Manhattan was the imposing backdrop as Trump transformed himself from local real-estate developer to celebrity businessman — skyscrapers and gossip pages featured his name — and during last year’s presidential campaign he’d fly thousands of miles to sleep in his own bed at Trump Tower.
But Trump was last in New York on Jan. 19, the day before he took office, when he left the skyscraper he called home for more than 30 years and flew to Washington. His wife, Melania, and their 10-year-old son, Barron, who attends a private Manhattan school, have remained behind, as have Trump’s two adult sons who are now tasked with running their father’s sprawling business interests.
During the presidential transition, speculation swirled that Trump, a famed homebody and creature of habit, would return to Manhattan frequently. But the president said last week that he has so far stayed away because his trips are “too expensive” and inconvenient.
“I hate to see the New Yorkers with streets closed,” Trump told Fox News, saying that it was easier and cheaper for the Secret Service to safeguard his clubs in Florida and New Jersey.
The Republican president received only 18 percent of the vote in the decidedly liberal city but his allies say New Yorkers should still salute the historic nature of his visit.
“Despite political differences from a lot of New York residents, they should appreciate that the president is a born-and-bred New Yorker,” said Joe Borelli, a city councilman and co-chair of Trump’s campaign in New York state.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.