Trump heading to Tennessee next week,
President Donald Trump plans to be in Nashville on Wednesday for a rally at the Municipal Auditorium, making his first visit to Tennessee as president just weeks after entering the White House.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m., with doors opening at 3:30 p.m.
An invitation for the Trump rally is posted on Trump’s campaign website, but the purpose of the gathering still is unclear. The White House has not responded to inquiries about the event.
Trump has spoken at several rallies in recent weeks, and Nashville is a natural fit in the wake of the president’s promise of a “full-court press” on behalf of Republican-backed legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The debate surrounding the bill is reaching a fever-pitch and Nashville is one of the nation’s health care hubs, boasting a near-$40 billion industry.
His arrival also would fall on the same day The Hermitage, the historic home of former President Andrew Jackson, is celebrating the 250th birthday of the nation’s seventh president, whose populist politics has resonated with Trump. Upon moving into the White House last month, the new president hung a portrait of Jackson in the Oval Office.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked twice about the trip Thursday but he declined to discuss details, instead directing questions to the campaign.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said the senator plans to attend.
In a statement, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s office said they have not received any guidance or details from the White House about the president’s visit at this point. They said the city will work with the White House and Secret Service to ensure Trump’s visit is safe and any impact on traffic and government accessibility is minimal.
“Nashville is a warm and welcoming city for all, and that certainly includes President Trump and his supporters who will be attending this event,” Barry said.
Barry, a Democrat, used a similar phrase after Trump was elected in November to try to assuage concerns of immigrants and others. Barry said then that she’s committed to “keeping our community a warm and welcoming place” to immigrants and others amid what she called a feeling of uncertainty and fear following Trump’s victory.
A spokesman for Barry declined to say whether Barry would attend next week’s event or greet the president when he arrives.
Plans to protest Trump’s visit already are underway. Soon after The Tennessean reported the president’s Nashville stop, a Facebook event organizing a demonstration against Trump popped up.
Former President Barack Obama visited Nashville three times during his two terms in office. During those stops, he was greeted at the airport by then-Mayor Karl Dean and Cooper, both Democrats, but not Gov. Bill Haslam. The Republican governor, however, did appear with the president in 2015 in Knoxville when Obama touted Haslam’s Tennessee Promise education plan, and he met with Obama in Memphis.
Haslam said when President Barack Obama came to Shelby and Knoxville he had a chance to visit with him and he would look to do the same with Trump.
“I would assume that same thing will happen here,” he said.
Michael Collins, Joel Ebert and Holly Meyer contributed to this story.
Contact Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and nrau@ tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tnnaterau.