Former President Donald Trump To Hold Tampa Rally On July 3

TAMPA, FLA. — Former President Donald Trump will visit Tampa for a rally early next month as part of a tour through key states as he ponders a second run at the White House in 2024, a Hillsborough County Republican Party official confirmed Wednesday.

Details of Trump’s visit to Tampa will be released soon, but plans have been in the works for some time, Jim Waurishuk, chairman of the county’s Republican Party, said in an email to Patch.

“I can guarantee as we announce and push info the excitement will soar,” Waurishuk wrote Wednesday. “Much work behind the scenes with many moving parts and organizations which no one sees, but this will be huge!”

Trump, who captured Florida in his November general election loss to President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would resume campaign-style rallies in key states such as Ohio and Florida. The Washington Post first reported the Tampa stop scheduled for July 3.

Before visiting Tampa, Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Cleveland later this month, with future events also scheduled for Georgia and Alabama, according to reports. Trump last visited Tampa in July 2020, when he held a coronavirus roundtable at Pelican Country Club.

CNN reported that Trump has been eager to return to the campaign stage and plans to use the rallies to galvanize the party and to lend support to candidates facing midterm elections. The network also said that Trump will use the events to speak out against Republicans who did not support his efforts to have the election results overturned after he claimed that his loss to Biden was rigged.

CNN also reported that Trump has been eyeing the July 4 holiday to begin his summer tour of rallies. Trump has made only two public appearances since leaving office in January, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February and at the North Carolina GOP convention this month.

Trump said he plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on June 30. Trump has referred to what is happening as the border as an "unmitigated disaster zone" and recently criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not visiting the border during a recent visit to Texas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

“What [President Joe Biden] and Harris have done, and are continuing to do on our border, is a grave and willful dereliction of duty,” Trump said in the statement from Save America, the PAC Trump created after leaving office. “My visit will hopefully shine a spotlight on these crimes against our Nation — and show the incredible people of ICE and Border Patrol that they have our unshakeable support.”