Trump to hold campaign rally in Michigan next week

Washington — President Donald Trump will campaign in Washington Township next week in lieu of attending the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C.

The former real estate mogul will rally supporters in Macomb County, where he defeated Hillary Clinton 54 percent to 42 percent on his way to winning Michigan by 10,704 votes. The appearance comes as Republicans face a tough November election to maintain control of the House, where more than 20 GOP members, including Rep. Mike Bishop of Rochester, are receiving extra national party support.

Trump campaigned in Macomb before the March 2016 primary and during the general election campaign. He made successful appeals to blue-collar workers and “Reagan Democrats,” prompting Michigan GOP strategist John Yob to say Macomb’s voters should be renamed “Trump Republicans.”

It will be Trump's 11th rally in Michigan and his fifth in the Detroit area since he first began his bid for the presidency in June 2015, according to his re-election campaign.

The April 28 rally will be his second trip to Michigan as president after a March 2017 visit to a mobility center in Ypsilanti. During a speech there, Trump pushed auto executives to “have new plants built in Michigan” and elsewhere in America, but the domestic carmakers have only managed expansions at existing facilities.

The campaign rally is set for 7 p.m. at Total Sports Park, 65665 Powell Road in Washington, an 80-acre site that has outdoor and indoor facilities. Doors open at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at donaldjtrump.com.

“While the fake news media will be celebrating themselves with the denizens of Washington society in the swamp that evening, President Trump will be in a completely different Washington, celebrating our national economic revival with patriotic Americans,” said Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President.

“The president is really looking forward to highlighting the growing success of his economic policies for Michiganders, including historic deregulation and tax cuts that are delivering a pay raise to working families; resulting in record-low unemployment, remarkable reductions in food stamp enrollment, and a return of the American dream for millions of families.”

The White House said this month that Trump would not attend the correspondents’ dinner, where Trump was skewered by former President Barack Obama in 2011.

Unlike last year, when he also skipped the dinner, this year Trump won’t discourage members of the executive branch from attending, according to the White House Correspondents’ Association.

“In keeping with tradition, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also will represent the administration at the head table,” WHCA President Margaret Talev said in a statement this month.

“The April 28 dinner celebrates award-winning reporting, scholarship winners and the vital role of the First Amendment and the free press in American democracy."

One of the awards at this year’s dinner will go to CNN, whom Trump often accuses of peddling “fake news.”

CNN journalists are being honored for breaking the story that intelligence officials had briefed Obama and then-President elect Trump that Russia had compromising information about Trump.

mburke@detroitnews.com