Safety ‘top priority’ for Saturday’s Trump campaign rally in St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD — Two weeks after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee and running mate U.S. Sen. JD Vance will make their first joint Minnesota appearance Saturday at a rally in St. Cloud.

The event will be at the 8,000-seat Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on St. Cloud State University’s campus — an indoor venue, which aligns with the Secret Service’s recommendation that Trump no longer hold large outdoor rallies after the Pennsylvania shooting.

Public officials in St. Cloud said security considerations are top of mind.

“Secret Service takes the lead, and our folks cooperate and we put all available resources into it,” Mayor Dave Kleis said Thursday. “Safety is our top priority.”

The city will partner with the State Patrol and local county sheriff’s offices to provide additional security and traffic control. St. Cloud will invoice the Trump campaign for any public safety costs that go beyond typical expenses, such as calling in additional officers.

“We have a good portion of our department working this event on top of continuing to provide just normal everyday coverage to the city,” said Brett Mushatt, assistant police chief for St. Cloud. “It’s certainly a taxing process when it comes to our resources because we suddenly need to find a bunch of people who planned to be off on a Saturday in the summer.”

But the department has lined up the resources it needs, Mushatt added.

Trump is scheduled to land at St. Cloud Regional Airport and take a route to the hockey center determined by the Secret Service. Kleis said residents and visitors should expect road closures and delays Saturday.

“There will be temporary closures,” he said. “But we’re Minnesotans; I think we’re very used to having road construction this time of year.”

Trump and Vance are trying to build momentum as Republicans hope to turn Minnesota red in November. Democratic presidential candidates have carried the state in every election since 1972.

Trump’s first rally after the July 13 assassination attempt was July 20 in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he wore a bandage on his wounded ear smaller than the large white patch he wore at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

On Tuesday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned under bipartisan pressure to step down, and congressional leaders last week announced plans for a bipartisan task force to investigate the assassination attempt.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that the task force will recommend changes to “make certain such failures never happen again.”

In St. Cloud, local officials expect an influx of visitors and media for the rally. It’s scheduled to start at 7 p.m.; doors open at 3 p.m. Kleis said many local hotels are already booked.

Local Democrats, including the Benton/Stearns County Progressives and St. Cloud Women’s March groups, plan to rally at 6 p.m. Saturday outside of St. Cloud Library, about a mile north of the hockey center.

Kleis said local public safety officials have ample experience working political events and partnering with other jurisdictions, particularly because St. Cloud straddles three counties. And it’s not the first time a national leader has come to town.

In February 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris, now the likely Democratic nominee, visited bus manufacturer New Flyer to tout electric buses being made at the St. Cloud plant. She was the sixth vice president to visit the city while in office.

In 2012, former President Bill Clinton campaigned for President Barack Obama at St. Cloud State’s memorial center, and President George W. Bush held a campaign rally at the city’s Municipal Athletic Complex in 2004.

Kleis said he doesn’t plan to attend Saturday’s rally but hopes to welcome Trump at the airport.

“We’ve had both nominees for president of the United States in St. Cloud just over a year apart,” Kleis said, referring to Harris’ recent visit and Trump’s upcoming visit. “That is something that brings democracy right to the community and puts a focus on St. Cloud, Minnesota at the national level. So we hope we leave a good impression.”