Jan. 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is expected to visit downtown Las Vegas on Saturday, wrapping up a trip to disaster areas in North Carolina and Los Angeles.
Trump arrived at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Friday night where he was met by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald and others, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
He will appear at the Circa Las Vegas Casino where is expected to thank his supporters in the swing state of Nevada at 12:30 p.m. PST, Republican officials told multiple local media outlets.
Trump’s Las Vegas visit comes at the end of a whirlwind tour of disaster areas in North Carolina, which was hit by floods following the devastation of Hurricane Helene last October, and Los Angeles, where wildfires killed at least 28 people, scorched 55,000 acres and destroyed 16,188 structures.
Trump indicated he would visit Nevada while touring the Los Angeles wildfire sites on Friday.
Organizers said the event is intended to recognize the state’s role in securing his electoral votes victory in the presidential race — the first time a Republican candidate has won the state in 20 years. He won the state with 50.6% of the vote compared with Kamala Harris’s 47.5%.
Trump is expected to speak about his “no taxes on tips” proposal, which appeared to garner significant support among unionized casino workers whose leadership had thrown their support to Harris.
Las Vegas casino owners are among some of Trump’s biggest financial supporters. His single largest donor in 2024 was Miriam Adelson, the wife of the late Sheldon Adelson, founder of Las Vegas Sands casino empire. Adelson had a front-row seat at Trump’s inauguration this week, sitting directly behind former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Casino.org reported.
Circus Circus owner Phil Ruffin also attended the ceremony.
Among the attendees at Saturday’s event was Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia whose long prison sentence stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection was commuted by Trump this week, CNN reported.
Rhodes, who had been serving an 18-year stint for seditious conspiracy, was seen entering the event a few hours ahead of Trump’s scheduled remarks, the broadcaster said.
He and other members of the Oath Keepers on Friday were ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta to stay away from Washington D.C., or the grounds of the U.S. Capitol without first receiving court permission.
