Anti-Trump pretests rock US

Police put up metal security fences around US President-elect Donald Trump's new Washington hotel on Thursday and a line of concrete blocks shielded the front of New York's Trump Tower as cities around the country braced for a second day of protests over his election.

A day after thousands of people took to the streets in at least 10 US cities from Boston to Berkeley, California, chanting "not my president" and "no Trump," fresh protests were planned for the nation's capital, Baltimore and Madison, Wisconsin.

A Trump campaign representative did not respond to requests for comment on the protests but Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a high-profile Trump supporter, called the demonstrators "a bunch of spoiled cry-babies."

Anti-Trump protesters protest against President-elect Donald Trump in different cities. Protesters burned a giant orange-haired head of Donald Trump in effigy, lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic as rage over the billionaire's election victory spilled onto the streets of major US cities. Photo: AFP, Reuters

he protesters, mostly young people, blasted the New York real estate developer for campaign rhetoric critical of immigrants, Muslims and allegations of sexual abuse of women. More than 20 people were arrested for blocking or attempting to block highways in Los Angeles and Richmond, Virginia, early Thursday morning.

More anti-Trump demonstrations are planned heading into the weekend, according to organizers' online posts. One urged protesters to rally in Washington, DC, on Inauguration Day, Jan 20.

Supporters of Trump, who surprised many in the political and media establishment with Tuesday's win, urged calm and recommended that Americans wait to see how he performed as president.

On Wednesday night, protests in Los Angeles and Oakland, California, each drew several thousand people. More than a dozen people were arrested by Los Angeles police when demonstrators tried to block a major highway intersection, a local CBS affiliate reported. The Oakland demonstrators blocked traffic, threw objects at police and smashed store front windows.

Trump said in his victory speech, which was delivered in a far calmer manner than he displayed in many campaign appearances, that he would be president for all Americans. Some of his most controversial campaign proposals, including the call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, had been removed from his campaign website by Thursday.