(Bloomberg) -- Melania Trump was unable to attend a tour of a German climate research center during the Group of 20 summit when protests prevented the U.S. first lady from leaving her residence in Hamburg.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer, a professor of physical and theoretical chemistry, had planned to host other G-20 leaders' spouses for a tour of the German Climate Computing Center on Friday. The plan fell apart when demonstrators disrupted the start of the summit and the German G-20 hosts said the visit was canceled.
Melania Trump was prevented from participating in the spousal program after Hamburg police were unable to give her transportation clearance because of the protests, according to Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for the first lady.
Ivanka Trump wasn't slated to attend, Grisham said. A German government official said earlier that the president's daughter had been invited to visit the center, which models climate change using supercomputers.
While Merkel's husband hasn't commented publicly on the purpose of the visit, Merkel has made her stance clear. After Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accord calling it “very unfair” to the U.S., Merkel said the rest of the world wouldn't be deterred.
“We want to tackle this existential challenge and we can't and we won't wait until the last person on earth is convinced of the scientific basis for climate change,” Merkel said in a speech on June 29.
To contact the reporter on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka
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