President Trump Visits Chicago: What You Need To Know
CHICAGO (CBS) -- President Donald Trump will be visiting Chicago on Monday for the first time since he took office.
Trump will first be addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference, which will be held at McCormick Place. He will then attend a fundraiser at Trump International Hotel & Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
• Trump will be arriving mid-Monday morning and will head back to Washington in the early afternoon. Expect road closures as the president heads into the city from O'Hare International Airport and between McCormick Place and Trump Tower. City officials have not commented on specific planned road closures.
• Safety barriers have been staged along the Chicago River and Wacker Drive. They can quickly be moved to impose rolling street closures as the presidential motorcade speeds through town.
• If you saw military aircraft over the area last week, they were doing test runs ahead of Trump's visit. A Facebook user reported spotting bomber planes over Berwyn, while Block Club Chicago reported people noticed at least one military helicopter near Kimball and Fullerton avenues in Logan Square.
• The International Association of Chiefs of Police is an organization that in its own words is dedicated to "shaping the future of the policing profession." The 126th IACP Annual Conference and Exposition at which Trump is speaking begins on Saturday and continues through Tuesday. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson announced earlier this week that he will not be attending Trump's speech, in a decision that led to a vote of no confidence from the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police.
• Chicago Cubs co-owner and Trump Victory Committee Finance Chairman Todd Ricketts, and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, will be hosting the Trump fundraiser. They also hosted a retreat for Trump donors in June that included a reception at Wrigley Field, but Trump himself was not present.
• Chicago Police tweeted that they will be working hard to keep the attendees of the IACP conference safe, along with the Fire Department, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, McCormick Place Traffic and Fire Safety, and federal law enforcement.
• A Police Department representative said up to 1,800 additional officers will be available Monday when the president hits town again.
• A city representative could not say how much Trump's visit might cost taxpayers this time around. But according to the Center for Public Integrity, Trump's campaign stops have cost other cities tens of thousands of dollars or more. Minneapolis estimated the cost of a rally this month to be $530,000. El Paso estimated a cost of $470,000, and an October 2018 rally in Erie, Pennsylvania cost $35,000.
• Multiple events protesting Trump's visit are scheduled throughout the day. For two examples, Indivisible of Chicago is planning a protest event at Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive, and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights – in conjunction with other organizations – is planning a rally at Adams and Michigan Avenue. Both events are scheduled for late Monday morning. Rallies are also scheduled outside Trump Tower.
• Chicago teachers have been on strike since a week ago last Thursday, and the strike will continue Monday as classes have already been canceled. Thus, the strike swill overlap with Trump's visit. Some Democrats who hope to defeat Trump in 2020 have pledged their support to the striking teachers – Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined their picket line last week. But as of Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Teachers Union had not announced any plans to participate in any protests against Trump.
• Trump had been scheduled to hold a rally in Chicago on March 11, 2016, when a political rally he had planned to hold at the UIC Pavilion – now renamed the Credit Union 1 Arena – was called off minutes before he was set to take the stage. The rally was canceled amid a firestorm of protests both for and against Trump.
• Trump also came to Chicago in July 2016 for a private fundraiser at Chicago's Trump Tower. He also campaigned in Chicago on Sept. 28, 2016, speaking at the Polish National Alliance in the Sauganash neighborhood and also attending a fundraiser in Bolingbrook.
• While Trump has not been to Chicago since he was elected, he also visited downstate Illinois twice last year – speaking at a U.S. Steel plant in Granite City and headlining a rally for Republican candidates in Murphysboro, according to published reports.
