Jason Williams

jwilliams@enquirer.com

Donald Trump is the first president-elect ever known to go on a nationwide victory tour, which kicks off this week in a key swing state that helped the real estate mogul pull off his surprise victory.

The Republican is scheduled to be at U.S. Bank Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday for a campaign-like rally. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is scheduled to attend the kickoff of what the Trump campaign is calling the "USA Thank You Tour."

Political experts aren't surprised Trump is taking a victory lap before his inauguration on Jan. 20, nor that he's launching the tour in Ohio.

"I don't have a problem with it at all ... (because) he has a lot of work to do to unify the country around his presidency," said Allan Lichtman, Washington, D.C.-based political analyst and history professor at American University. "I don't know if it will work or not. As it is with his entire life, I think this is all about his ego."

Trump's transition team did not return a message seeking comment from The Enquirer. His supporters view the tour as a populist's way of giving back to the voters. The event is free and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

"One thing people don’t like about politicians is they never seem grateful," said former Northern Kentucky attorney Eric Deters, one of Trump's leading supporters in the region. "He knows he won because he connected with the average American who felt forgotten and left behind. This is truly a nice thing for him to do."

Trump will be making his fourth visit to Greater Cincinnati since March. His most recent Cincinnati visit also was at U.S. Bank Arena on Oct. 13, less than a week after a video surfaced in which Trump could be heard making lewd comments about a woman. Trump has talked about his love for Cincinnati, where he worked on one of the first projects in his real estate career in 1962.

Hamilton County went for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, but as Deters pointed out, Trump "cleaned her clock" across the rest of the region. Trump easily won the seven counties that border Hamilton County in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Those results were indicative of how Trump fared in flyover country, including key victories in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

How Donald Trump won Ohio

Other "Thank You Tour" events have not yet been announced. Some believe these types of big-arena rallies could continue through Trump's presidency, something that also would be unprecedented.

“Donald Trump has already re-written the playbook on how to run a political campaign, so he may very well re-write the playbook for how to be president,” said Dan Tokaji, an Ohio State professor regarded as an authority in voting and elections law. "There’s nothing wrong with him trying to mobilize public support for his agenda" now or during his presidency.

A big question going into Thursday's event is whether top Ohio GOP politicians and leaders will show up, particularly those who did not support Trump.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, whose home is 15 miles from U.S. Bank Arena, told reporters on Tuesday he would try to attend if he can make it home from Washington in time. It depends on whether the Senate has votes Thursday afternoon. Portman withdrew his endorsement of Trump after the Washington Post's report on the video.

Gov. John Kasich has continued to refuse to support Trump. A spokewoman for Kasich did not return a message seeking comment whether the governor planned to attend Thursday's event.

But many Republicans far and near who refused to support Trump ahead of the Nov. 8 election have come around to the president-elect.

"My phone has blown up with people who want to go see him, even more so than before when he came to Cincinnati," Hamilton County GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou said. "I’m not going to name names, but one of the calls was from a high-ranking Republican who has been anti-Trump. My jaw dropped to the floor when he said he wanted to go see him."