Trump in New York to meet Turnbull

New York, May 5 (IANS) Amid protests, US President Donald Trump returned to New York for the first time since taking office, a media report said.

Trump will be meeting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull here.

The presidential plane with Trump on board landed at the JFK airport on Thursday. He was scheduled to spend only a few hours before moving on to New Jersey, Efe news reported.

Trump is set to meet Turnbull on Thursday night here at the Intrepid Naval Museum, a retired US Navy vessel that is anchored on the Hudson River.

The meeting will be in private.

The two leaders would also participate in an event held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea, a major battle in which Americans and Australians fought together against Japanese naval forces.

This battle, in which aircraft carriers were used as part of the forces for the first time, was the first major military failure of the Japanese Asian offensive during World War II.

After these official acts, Trump will travel to the town of Bedminster, in the state of New Jersey, where the President has a private residence at a golf club. He plans to stay there until May 7.

Trump last left New York, the city he was born in, on January 19 for the presidential inauguration on January 20.

His wife, First Lady Melania Trump, was currently staying at Trump Tower in New York, until the end of the school year for their son, Barron, before settling permanently in the White House in Washington D.C.

On the occasion of Trump's return to New York, at least three protests were held in the city, including in the vicinity of Trump Tower where the US President had lived. The other protests were in the area surrounding the Intrepid Naval Museum.