Former President Donald Trump got Friday off from his New York hush money trial to attend his son’s high school graduation in Florida, then hustling to Minnesota for the state GOP fundraiser he’s headlining.
A busy day ahead for Trump: First his son’s graduation in Florida, then dinner with state Republicans in St. Paul
Here’s a breakdown of what’s expected to be a full day for the former president.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 17, 2024 at 12:00PM
But can Trump make it in time for the annual Lincoln Reagan dinner, which begins at 6 p.m. following a reception?
The former president kicks his day off in West Palm Beach, Fla., where his youngest son, Barron, 18, will be graduating from Oxbridge Academy, a college prep school. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m., according to the Daily Beast and other news sites, but it’s not been confirmed how long it will last. School officials didn’t return a request for comment Thursday.
Oxbridge Academy is about 8 miles from Trump’s Palm Beach residence at the Mar-a-Lago Club, which he owns. The school is also close to the region’s airport.
And with the favorable time difference — Minnesota is one hour behind Palm Beach — Trump should have enough time to take in his son’s graduation, chat and eat lunch before flying to the Twin Cities.
Nonstop flights from West Palm Beach to the Twin Cities take about 3-1/2 hours. So Trump could theoretically linger in Florida for about three hours after his son’s ceremony, depending on how long it goes, before getting on a plane for the Minnesota GOP dinner.
The state Republican convention is being held this weekend at St. Paul RiverCentre downtown, but party officials did not publicly release the location for the dinner.
Trump was charged a year ago in New York with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had a sexual encounter with him. He has denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty.
Trump, who is required to be in court for the proceedings, complained on the first day of the trial in April that Judge Juan M. Merchan would not let him have the day off to attend his son’s graduation. That wasn’t true; Merchan had said only that he wasn’t ready to rule on the request to adjourn the court May 17. Two weeks later, with the trial on schedule, Merchan granted Trump’s request.
Republicans across the country benefited from favorable tailwinds as President-elect Donald Trump resoundingly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris. But that wasn’t the whole story in Minnesota.
