Former President Donald Trump denied disparaging Milwaukee in a new TV interview ahead of next month’s Republican convention there, telling Milwaukee’s NBC affiliate WTMJ that he will be staying in the city for the convention.
“I always planned to stay here,” Trump said. “Again, I chose Milwaukee for a reason.”
But a law enforcement source told NBC News that the Secret Service and local law enforcement had not taken action on plans for Trump to stay at his Chicago hotel until Monday before multiple press reports emerged about his plans. And Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins, chairman of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. said the city had planned security measures during the campaign — in person and by phone — with Trump planning to stay at Trump Tower in Chicago during the GOP convention.
“They abruptly changed their minds,” Hopkins said Tuesday. “The Trump campaign has communicated with the city to say, ‘We’re not coming,’” Hopkins continued.
In the interview, Trump also denied reports saying Milwaukee was a “terrible” city overrun by crime during a meeting with House Republicans in Washington, D.C., last week. Instead, he called Democrats liars, said he was talking about crime more broadly and noted that he picked Milwaukee for the convention even though it was wrapped up long before he was the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee.
Trump also said that crime in many cities is “way too high” and that too many guns are in “certain hands.”
Asked how he plans to work with major city mayors to fight crime, Trump said: “Good policing involves giving authority and control back to the police.”
Trump also lashed out President Joe Biden‘s new effort to allow undocumented immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens and their children to reside in the United States. Trump claimed it was “for the vote,” and said the Biden administration “won’t stop there” when it comes to immigration reform.
It was also a key theme of Trump’s rally on Tuesday in Racine, Wisconsin, where he criticized Biden’s border policies and highlighted examples of undocumented immigrants committing crimes in the US, although despite high-profile killings and other incidents there is no evidence of a broader crime wave fueled by migrants.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
