Zinke says Trump may visit Montana next week
President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
If the rumors are true, President Donald Trump may be visiting Montana next week.
According to the Independent Record, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke told a radio show on Wednesday that the president may visit Great Falls on July 5. Zinke could not confirm the information to the newspaper. The Great Falls Tribune also reported on the potential visit, reporting that the city’s mayor Bob Kelly said the Great Falls Police Department was notified of a potential presidential visit.
Trump was scheduled to be in Fargo, North Dakota on Wednesday for a rally.
The president’s stop in Montana would come on the tails of his son’s visit to Billings on June 22 for the Montana Republican Party’s annual convention.
At that visit, Donald Trump Jr. urged Republicans to rally against U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in the fall election. Donald Jr. also toured Montana last April, including a stop in Kalispell where he stumped for Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont.
Tester came into the crosshairs of President Trump after releasing allegations in the spring that derailed the White House’s Veterans Affairs nominee, Ronny Jackson.
White House aides said in the aftermath of Jackson’s withdrawal that Trump intends to campaign in Montana.
Tester has not backed away from the actions he took against Jackson and said in a recent interview that he would welcome a trip by the president to Montana.