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President Donald Trump will leave Washington next week for a trip to Arizona, getting out of the White House and back on the road as states ease coronavirus lockdowns and polls reportedly show his support dwindling in battleground states.
Trump announced the Arizona trip, as well as plans to visit Ohio “very soon,” during a White House event on Wednesday with executives from companies including Wynn Resorts WYNN, -3.93% and Hilton HLT, -4.36%.
“I think I’m going to Arizona next week,” Trump said. “And I’m going to, I hope, Ohio very soon. And we’re going to start to move around.” A White House spokesman later said Trump would visit a Honeywell HON, -2.96% facility in Phoenix on Tuesday.
Both Arizona and Ohio are considered crucial states for the November presidential election. Trump reportedly erupted at his top political advisers last week when they presented him with polling data that showed his support eroding in a series of battleground states as his response to the coronavirus comes under criticism.
The Associated Press reported that new surveys by the Republican National Committee and Trump’s campaign pointed to a harrowing picture for the president as he faces reelection.
Read: Trump erupts at campaign team as internal poll numbers show him trailing Biden.
Trump tweeted early Thursday morning that he never shouted at his campaign manager over what the president called “made up nonsense.” He also decried “fake polling,” without identifying specifics.
Trump added at the Wednesday event that he wanted to begin holding “massive rallies” “in the not-too-distant future,” but gave no planned dates.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump’s Tuesday visit “will highlight Honeywell’s investment in critical medical equipment production within the United States and the addition of 500 manufacturing jobs in Arizona.”
“Honeywell is adding new production capability at an existing aerospace facility to meet the increased demand for N-95 respirator masks in the face of COVID-19,” he added.
Asked for comment on Trump’s visit, Adam Kress, director of external communications at Honeywell Aerospace, said the company “is looking forward to welcoming President Trump to its new N-95 mask production facility” in Phoenix. He offered no further details.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, meanwhile, isn’t currently planning any campaign travel, an aide told MarketWatch.
The campaign for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday named four co-chairs for a vice-presidential selection committee. Biden said in March that he would choose a woman to be his running mate.
See:Joe Biden’s campaign steps up its effort to pick a running mate.
Also read:Assault allegation against Joe Biden prompts Republican attacks, Democrat worries.
