Trump Backtracks on Plan to Stay in His Chicago Hotel During RNC in Milwaukee After Reporters Found Out
Alex Menendez via AP
Former President Donald Trump backtracked on staying at his hotel in Chicago during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee after reporters caught wind of his plans.
The ex-president made headlines last week with several wild comments during a closed-door meeting with Republican members of Congress – including calling Milwaukee a “horrible city.” Wisconsin’s most populous city will play host to the GOP’s convention, where Trump is scheduled to officially become the party’s presidential nominee and publicly announce his vice presidential pick, on July 15 through 18.
Several Wisconsin Republicans tried to walk back Trump’s comments and insist he was talking about crime, but ended up mostly just confirming he had made the comment and extending the news cycle.
This latest development seems likely to extend the shelf life of Trump’s “horrible city” comment a bit longer.
According to ABC7, Chicago’s ABC news affiliate, three separate sources said that Trump was planning to stay in the Windy City during the RNC, at his Trump International Hotel about 90 miles away from the convention venue at the Fiserv Forum.
Chicago had been “preparing for weeks” to have Trump stay at his hotel and travel to Milwaukee each day of the convention, ABC7 was told by the sources, which included a “high-ranking law enforcement” official.
As several observers noted, staying at his own property allows Trump to not just have a familiar setting but also profit from his Secret Service detail having to pay for hotel rooms there.
When contacted for comment, however, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt replied, “The president is planning to stay in Milwaukee for the Convention.”
The speculation that the campaign had backtracked under pressure from the media attention was supported by Brian Hopkins, an alderman for Chicago’s 2nd Ward and chair of the city public safety committee.
“We did have solid indications he was originally planning to stay in Chicago, at least for some period of time,” Hopkins told ABC7. “Campaigns change schedules all the time. The Trump campaign is like any other; they react to circumstances, they react to the optics, and I think in this case it looked pretty bad to not be staying in Wisconsin, which is a battleground state for him. So, frankly, I’m not surprised they changed their mind not to stay in Trump Tower.”
The New York Times confirmed ABC7’s reporting, noting that Trump’s original plans to stay in Chicago “changed midafternoon Tuesday,” after their reporters and ABC7 had contacted the campaign for comment.
“The change [to Milwaukee] avoids a perceived slight to the largest city in Wisconsin, a vital battleground state,” wrote the Times‘ Michael Gold.
Wisconsin is viewed as a critically important swing state by both Trump’s and President Joe Biden’s campaigns. In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin and the presidency, and then the state flipped blue in 2020 and helped send Biden to the White House. Democrats have unsurprisingly sought to capitalize on Trump’s “horrible city” comment, with social media posts from the Biden campaign and the DNC putting up ten billboards in Milwaukee attacking him for it.
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