Former President Donald Trump will check off a campaign bucket list item on Sunday: a rally at the historic Madison Square Garden. The enthusiastic Broadway fan will give a matinee performance, complete with musical guests and a slew of Republican pals.
It’s a moment Trump has long desired to have in the state where he built a commercial empire before facing criminal and civil prosecutions, and becoming a convicted felon.
Trump says he wants to’make New York great again’
“I think it’ll be a terrific time, and it’ll be a true celebration of the whole thing, because it’ll be over a few days later. I won’t campaign anymore. “Then I’ll be campaigning to make America great,” Trump said of the impending Madison Square Garden rally during a local radio appearance with Cats & Cosby on Thursday.
The day before the much-anticipated gathering, Trump spoke at a “tele-rally” staged by the New York Republican Party, portraying New York City as declining and making another long-shot bid to capture the Democratic bastion.
Trump railed against the inflow of migrants in New York and emphasized crime numbers, while bemoaning that “rich people” are fleeing the city.
“We’ll have to do stuff to incentivize New Yorkers to stay. I mean, they are leaving New York. And rich individuals are going—the people’s wealth is leaving. And that implies hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, which we cannot allow to happen,” Trump stated.
The former president criticized Democratic leaders for what he called the city’s deterioration. While lamenting about the homeless population and empty storefronts on Madison and Fifth Avenue, Trump stated that he will work with Democrats to “turn it around” and make “New York great again.”
During his civil fraud trial, Trump chose to attend his court hearings voluntarily, dividing his time between the courtroom and the campaign trail as he exploited his prosecutions to rally his supporters against what he saw as government weaponization, claims that prosecutors have categorically disputed.
During his seven-week criminal trial earlier this year, he made several smaller campaign visits and conducted rallies in the Bronx and Long Island in an attempt to court the area’s Hispanic and Black voters, who make up the majority.
Throughout his visits across the deep-blue Democratic state, the former president has often joked that he might flip New York, which Democrats have won in the last nine elections.
Trump’s visit will act as his final argument, with the arena format representing confidence and star status. In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris makes hers on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, prior to the attack on the United States Capitol.
The former president, recalling his nine-year battle for the highest office in the land, dubbed the occasion a “celebration of the whole thing.”
“Well, it’s New York, but it also marks the conclusion of my campaign. I’ve been doing it for nine years, and we’ve had two excellent elections. “One was better than the other,” Trump declared.
On Sunday, Trump will be joined by numerous surrogates who have appeared beside him on the campaign trail, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik will all be in attendance, as will other family members and donors.
Trump’s close friend and donor Steve Witkoff, who was golfing with Trump during the second attempt on his life in West Palm Beach last month, will also speak at the gathering.
