President Donald Trump will return to the Grand Rapids area later this month for a campaign rally as his 2020 re-election campaign gets underway.

His campaign said it will be Trump's 18th rally in Michigan and his sixth in the Grand Rapids area since he began his campaign for president in June 2015.

It will be Trump's first trip to Michigan since April 2018 when he visited Washington Township for a rally, in lieu of the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner.

The event is set for 7 p.m. March 28 at the Van Andel Arena. Doors will open at 4 p.m.

“While President Trump has made good on his promises to American workers, 2020 Democrats are embracing radical socialist policies like the Green New Deal, which would raise taxes on all Americans and is opposed by the AFL-CIO because it would harm millions of its members and threaten their jobs," Michael Glassner, chief operating officer for the campaign, said in a statement.

"While Democrat proposals would cause irreparable harm to the American economy, President Trump has added hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in just two years, a drastic change from Obama's disastrous two terms."

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said she looks forward to hearing Trump's "latest excuses for why he's broken every single promise to the working people of Michigan and continues to attack the Great Lakes and our state to balance his extremist budget."

"Trump has nothing to say that everyone hasn't already heard, but if he listens close enough while he's in Michigan, he will hear the rumblings of an entire state sick and tired of the attacks, tirades, excuses, and embarrassment that increases every day his corrupt administration occupies the White House," Barnes said.

"The people of Michigan care about healthcare, clean water, quality education, and good-paying jobs, not Donald Trump's politics of division and utter failure to deliver anything but Michigan's manufacturing jobs to Mexico."

Trump's trip comes as the first Democratic presidential hopefuls have started visiting the state, with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York set to make two stops in Oakland County on Monday, as well as an appearance on an MSNBC town hall event in Auburn Hills.

Tickets for Trump's rally are available at www.donaldjtrump.com.

Staff writer Jonathan Oosting contributed

mburke@detroitnews.com

