BLM Mural To Be Painted By Trump Tower In 'Matter Of Days': Mayor

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed Wednesday that the city will paint a large Black Lives Matter mural on the Fifth Avenue block of Trump Tower in "a matter of days."

The mayor said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the mural may help President Donald Trump "get the point" of the Black Lives Matter movement the next time he visits New York City.

"It's an important message to the whole nation, and obviously we want the president to hear it because he's never shown respect for those three words. When he hears 'Black Lives Matter' he presents a horrible, negative reality of something that doesn't exist, and he misses the underlying meaning that we're saying we have to honor the roles of African-Americans in our history and society," de Blasio said Wednesday.

News of the city's planned mural was first reported last week, but had never been confirmed by de Blasio. The mayor reportedly personally pushed for a mural on Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets.

Trump fired off an angry tweet last week about the city's plan.

"Told that [Mayor] Bill de Blasio wants to paint the fabled & beautiful Fifth Avenue, right in front of Trump Tower/Tiffany, with a big yellow Black Lives Matter sign. 'Pigs in a Blanket, Fry 'Em Like Bacon,' referring to killing Police, is their chant. NYC Police are furious!" Trump wrote in the tweet.

De Blasio announced plans this June to paint at least five Black Lives Matter murals throughout the city — one in each borough — following Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser's decision to install a similar mural in front of the White House. Two additional murals, the Fifth Avenue mural and one planned for Harlem, will push the total mural count up to seven.

Manhattan will also be getting a mural near Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, which has been a popular meeting spot for protests. The first of New York City's Black Lives Matter murals was painted in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.