Donald Trump is returning to Butler, Pa., for a rally Saturday. Here’s what to know.
Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Butler on Saturday. Here's what you need to know about how to watch and which roads to avoid.
Former President Donald Trump is returning to Butler, Pa., on Saturday, the same site where he was nearly killed by a would-be assassin’s bullet in July.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds at 5 p.m., which has already gone on lockdown ahead of his visit. Secret Service has been on the ground in Butler all week, according to WPXI, an NBC news affiliate in Pittsburgh.
“There is probably quadruple more of the assets from the Secret Service than there was in July,” Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe told the news channel.
Despite the added security, Trump said in an interview this week with NewsNation that he’s “always worried” about his safety, claiming without evidence that President Joe Biden and his administration aren’t providing the security his campaign needs. Trump’s campaign moved a Wisconsin rally indoors due to a shortage of Secret Service staff, who were stretched thin by the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to CBS News.
On Tuesday, Biden signed a bill passed unanimously by Congress requiring top presidential and vice presidential candidates to receive the same level of Secret Service protection as the sitting president and vice president. Trump has already been receiving the same level of Secret Service protection as Biden, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters last month.
» READ MORE: Live updates: Trump rally in Butler, Pa.
In Butler, Trump will likely appear behind bulletproof glass, which he spoke behind during an outdoor rally in North Carolina in August.
“I’m going back to Butler because I feel I have an obligation to go back to Butler,” Trump told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo. “We never finished what we were supposed to do. And I said that day when I was shot, I said, we’re coming back. We’re going to come back. And, fulfilling a promise, fulfilling really an obligation.”
It’s unclear how different the security measures will be for rally attendees this time around. Ahead of the rally in July, attendees told The Inquirer they went through bag checks and metal detectors and noticed a large police presence on par with their experience at other Trump rallies.
Fresh off this week’s vice presidential debate, Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio) will join Trump at Saturday’s rally. He’ll be joined by Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who is coming off his first debate with incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, as well as U.S. Reps. Dan Meuser, and Mike Kelly. Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and X who is supporting Trump’s presidential run, said he will also attend Saturday’s rally.
» READ MORE: Returning to Butler puts a big spotlight on Trump. How will he use it?
Where in Pennsylvania is the Trump rally?
Trump’s rally Saturday is being held at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, which is located in western Pennsylvania north of Pittsburgh.
While Trump wasn’t seriously injured in the failed assassination attempt on July 13, former Buffalo Township Fire Company Chief Corey Comperatore was killed, and two rally attendees were hospitalized with injuries. The Trump campaign said the former president plans to honor Comperatore and the other victims Saturday rally, as well as “express his deep gratitude” to law enforcement.
It’s Trump’s 10th visit to Pennsylvania since the failed assassination attempt in July, and his 15th trip to commonwealth this year.
What time does Trump’s Butler rally start?
Doors are scheduled to open at 10 a.m., and Trump is scheduled to speak at 5 p.m..
It’s unclear how long Trump’s speech will last, but his typical campaign remarks have been averaging about an hour and 20 minutes. But your mileage can vary — a speech Trump gave Tuesday in Wisconsin lasted one hour and 15 minutes, while his speech in Erie over the weekend went on for nearly two hours.
How do you get tickets to a Trump rally?
Tickets have been available on Trump’s campaign website on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the campaign.
The campaign is limiting ticket requests to two per person.
Will roads be shut down?
Police haven’t announced any specific closures related to Trump’s rally Saturday. Ahead of Trump’s previous rally there in July, Pennsylvania State Police suggested drivers avoid Route 68 due to heavy traffic.
Alternate routes include I-79, Route 8, and Route 422.
How can I watch the rally from home?
C-Span will be streaming Trump’s speech live at 4 p.m. You can also find a livestream of Trump’s rally on YouTube Saturday, but you’re better off sticking with mainstream outlets, such as the Washington Post and the Associated Press.
Kamala Harris campaign schedule
It’s unclear where Vice President Kamala Harris will be campaigning Saturday.
On Friday, Harris is scheduled to attend campaign events in Detroit and Flint, Mich., before returning to Washington, D.C. It’s her first event in Michigan since sitting down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey in Detroit on Sept. 19.
Harris took a brief pause from her campaign in recent days to visit areas in Georgia and North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene. She had been scheduled to join her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on a bus tour across central Pennsylvania following Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.
Instead, Walz was joined by Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) at stops in Harrisburg, Reading, and a rally in York.
Former President Barack Obama will travel to Pennsylvania to campaign for Harris. He’s expected to begin a series of stops battleground states in Pittsburgh Thursday.