U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday will hold his first campaign rally since Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry against him, choosing a large arena in a Democratic stronghold in Minnesota to mount his latest public defense.
Supporters of the Republican president will gather inside the 20,000-seat Target Center in Minneapolis for the 7 p.m. CDT rally, while protesters promise to voice their opposition outside.
Trump’s path to re-election in November 2020 depends on clinching a cluster of farm and Rust Belt states decided by slim margins in 2016. Minnesota, which Trump lost by 1.5 percentage points to Democrat Hillary Clinton, is a key target, his campaign said.
Unlike 2016, when it spent little money and time in the Midwestern state, the campaign has already hired staff and organized voters there. Thursday’s visit marks the president’s fourth trip to the state in the past 16 months.
The visit comes against the backdrop of an impeachment investigation by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives that has upended Washington. – READ MORE
