When Republicans gather in Milwaukee next month to nominate him for president, Donald Trump planned to stay not in the convention’s host city but at a Trump hotel in Chicago, some 90 miles away, according to three people briefed on the former president’s logistics.
That changed midafternoon Tuesday, after reporters for the New York Times and an ABC station in Chicago contacted his campaign for comment.
Trump now intends to stay in Milwaukee, two of the people briefed on his logistics said. The change avoids a perceived slight to the largest city in Wisconsin, a vital battleground state.
Trump has been on the defensive about his views on Milwaukee since news outlets reported last week that he had called it a “horrible” city in a private meeting with House Republicans in Washington.
In a local television interview Tuesday afternoon, Trump said he was “always planning on staying” in Milwaukee. “I have a beautiful hotel there, a beauty, as good as it gets,” he said of Chicago. “But I’m staying here.”
And Trump opened his rally Tuesday afternoon in Racine, Wis., by proclaiming his love for Milwaukee, about 30 miles away, which he claimed he selected as the host of the convention. And he repeated his contention that he had only criticized the city over crime and his false claims of voter fraud there in 2020.
The initial decision for Trump to spend his nights at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago was made partly because of his own preference and partly because of security and logistics concerns, according to one of the people with knowledge of the Chicago plan. All of the people insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive planning arrangements.
Trump has over the years preferred to sleep at his own properties while campaigning, and in his 2016 run for president, he sometimes flew hundreds of miles to sleep in his own bed. It also remains possible that Trump’s plans could change again before the convention starts July 15.
Alexi Worley, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, directed questions about Trump’s lodging to the Republican National Committee. In a statement, she said the agency would work closely “with law enforcement and public safety partners to adapt security plans as required” to ensure a comprehensive security plan is in place for the convention.
Trump’s choice to stay in Chicago would have been all but certain to play into Democratic attacks on him.
Garren Randolph, President Joe Biden’s Wisconsin campaign manager, on Tuesday attacked Trump in a statement that referred to his comments from last week.
“We don’t want him here either — Wisconsinites rejected him four years ago and we will again this November,” Randolph said.
Over the weekend, the Democratic National Committee put up 10 billboards around Milwaukee to draw attention to Trump’s remarks.