Donald Trump Comes To Chicago For First Visit As President

CHICAGO — In his first visit to Chicago since his inauguration, President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak Monday at a conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and hold a fundraiser at Trump Tower, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In his speech to the association, White House officials say the president will discuss his efforts to reduce crime and recidivism through criminal justice reform and "opportunity zones," according to the Tribune. The police chiefs group is holding its annual convention at McCormick Place for five days beginning Friday. Last year in Florida, Trump addressed the organization with a speech in which he called on Chicago to implement a "stop and frisk" policy, since "the crime spree has a terrible blight on that city."

Ticket prices for the Trump Tower fundraiser lunch started at $2,800, with a price tag of $35,000 per couple to get a photo taken with the president and $100,000 per person — contributed or raised — to sit down in a roundtable discussion with Trump, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by WMAQ-TV and the Tribune.

The event will benefit the Trump Victory Committee, a joint effort of Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee. It will be hosted by Todd Ricketts, the committee's finance chair and Chicago Cubs co-owner; Ronna McDaniel, the committee's chair; Tommy Hicks Jr., her co-chair; and Brad Parscale, campaign manager for the 2020 Trump campaign, according to the invitation.

In a fundraising email announcing the visit and offering a chance to win VIP tickets in a sweepstakes, Trump said he was "hosting a lunch at a VERY NICE HOTEL," according to the Tribune. Earlier this month, Republican officials held an organizing call in an effort to recruit top GOP donors in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Trump visited Chicago at least three times during his campaign for the presidency. In March 2016, his campaign canceled a planned rally at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion on the Near West Side, citing safety concerns after thousands of protesters showed up. That September, Trump and Rudy Giuliani addressed the Polish National Alliance on the far Northwest Side and held a fundraiser in Bolingbrook. And in October 2016, Trump held a secret strategy session with large-dollar donors at Trump Tower, the Tribune reported, days before winning the presidency.

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