US President Donald Trump assured early this morning that US diplomacy is in the “final stages” of efforts to reach a deal with Iran to end the conflict in the Gulf.
“We are in the final efforts of what will be a very, very good deal,” he said after attending a finals game of the NBA, the U.S. professional basketball league, in New York, and spoke of a timeline of “two or three days” to conclude that agreement.
Shortly earlier basketball fans had strongly disapproved of Trump, as the Republican became the first sitting president of the US to attend the third game of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.
Invited by Knicks president James Dolan, Trump stood in the VIP box at Madison Square Garden, smiling as the crowd booed him when he appeared on the stadium’s giant screen during the playing of the national anthem.
“I thought it was wonderful,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to depart from New York’s JFK airport. “You mean when they had me on camera? I thought it was great.”
The episode marked the latest chapter in Trump’s complicated relationship with his hometown, where enraged fans waited in huge lines on the sidewalks around the stadium in midtown Manhattan as extreme security measures were taken because of the presidential visit, which delayed fans from entering the field.
“I wish he wasn’t here. He’s not a real fan and just makes it unbearable,” said Errol Ishmael, a Brooklyn resident and owner of a wellness and sports company, who took hours to get into the venue. “We’ve waited a lifetime for this and he’s making himself the star, as he does with everything.”
Donald Trump’s approval rating is near its lowest level ever in his political career, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed yesterday, Monday, with about 35 percent of respondents saying they approve of Trump’s performance.
