Donald Trump confirms Wednesday immigration speech in Phoenix
Aug 29, 2016, 2:54 PM | Updated: 9:35 pm
FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Des Moines, Iowa. Trump promises on Twitter that he'll make a major speech on illegal immigration on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, carrying his self-declared "immigration week" into a second. Trump appears unable to make a decision on what his policy on his signature issue ought to be, an odd place for a candidate 10 weeks before Election Day and a dark harbinger of indecision for a potential president. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
PHOENIX — After days of confusion, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign has confirmed he will host an immigration speech on Wednesday night in Phoenix.
Trump’s campaign website says the event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center. The doors open at 3 p.m. and tickets are available online.
Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence will also attend the event, Trump’s Arizona campaign chairman, Phil Lovas, said.
Senior Trump advisor Dan Scavino, Jr. tweeted a photo that made it clear the nominee plans to talk about immigration.
#MakeAmericaSafeAgain🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/agHjFEkBeC
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) August 29, 2016
The visit has been met with a lot of confusion. After confirming the event last week, his campaign canceled the event just 48 hours later.
However, the billionaire took to Twitter to set the record straight a few hours later.
Will be in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday. Changing venue to much larger one. Demand is unreal. Polls looking great! #ImWithYou
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2016
He then said the speech would for sure be about immigration.
I will be making a major speech on ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION on Wednesday in the GREAT State of Arizona. Big crowds, looking for a larger venue.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2016
Trumps’ immigration plan has been in the news in recent weeks, and it’s assumed that he will provide more detailed information regarding his plan.
After initially taking a hard-line stance against illegal immigration, Trump appeared to back down this week, promising to be “fair, but firm” toward the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.
The billionaire businessman, whose hard-line approach to immigration and fierce rhetoric propelled him to the GOP presidential nomination, insisted that he’s not “flip-flopping” on the divisive issue as he works to broaden his support two-and-a-half months before the general election.
The speech will be the second time his campaign visits Arizona during August. Pence hosted a town hall at the Phoenix Convention Center on Aug. 2.
The upcoming speech will be Trump’s fifth visit to the Valley since launching his campaign last year. The events have drawn large crowds of both supporters and protesters.
He used a December event in Mesa to call for a halt to illegal immigration. Trump said, if the illegal immigration process is not halted, Americans will lose the country.
“If we don’t stop [illegal immigration], we don’t have a country,” he told a crowd of thousands inside an airport hangar at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
