De Blasio: 'Black Lives Matter' to be painted by Trump Tower, president calls move 'symbol of hate'

President Trump on Wednesday blasted plans to paint the words "Black Lives Matter" on New York City's Fifth Avenue, describing the anticipated addition to the street as a "symbol of hate."

The words will soon appear on the street in front of Trump Tower, according to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Trump also blasted the his home town for cutting police funding, following a City Council vote Tuesday that would take a reported $1 billion from the the police budget.

The New York City Council claims that the budget agreement shifts and cuts $837 million from the NYPD expense budget and that associated costs bring the amount removed from the NYPD to $1 billion. 

The city is shifting some funds and duties away from the NYPD and cancelling plans to hire about 1,160 officers, according to the New York Times which reported on the city's financial maneuvering.  

"NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue. This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the horrible BLM chant, 'Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon'. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!," the president declared Wednesday during a series of two tweets.

De Blasio said Wednesday that Trump does not grasp the significance of the phrase "Black Lives Matter."

"And obviously we want the president to hear it because he's never shown respect for those three words," the mayor said. "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 role of African-Americans in our history and in our society," de Blasio also said during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."