Donald Trump will be in Akron on Monday, his campaign has confirmed.
Tickets for a rally at the James A. Rhodes Arena on the University of Akron campus are available through the campaign’s online event listing at www.donaldjtrump.com/schedule. Doors will open at 4 p.m. and Trump is scheduled to deliver his remarks at 7 p.m.
The venue holds 5,500 people.
Trump is returning to the region after stopping this week in Youngstown. There, he unveiled details on a plan to defeat radical Islamic terrorism. Trump, who said last week that President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-founded ISIS, softened his tone somewhat, stating Monday that “the rise of ISIS is the direct result of policy decisions made by President Obama and Secretary Clinton.”
Clinton visited Northeast Ohio on Wednesday. At a high school in Cleveland, the Democratic presidential nominee criticized Trump for not releasing his tax returns and proposing an economic policy weeks earlier that she said would give tax cuts to the rich — like herself and Trump — while hurting middle class Americans.
Seth Unger, Ohio spokesman for the Trump campaign, could not confirm the nature of Trump’s talking points for the upcoming visit on Monday.
This is the first Akron visit of the campaign for either candidate.
Both skirted the city during the primary, making stops in Cleveland or Youngstown instead.
Since locking up the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last month, Trump came closest to Akron when he visited Stark County last week for a country-club fundraiser. An earlier Trump event planned with less than a day’s notice last month for local donors and supporters at E.J. Thomas Hall fell through.
UA spokesman Wayne Hill said sideline seating and multilevel bleachers at the arena can hold about 2,000 more than the auditorium at E.J. Thomas. The Trump campaign, Hill confirmed, paid the standard rate of $16,477.13 to rent out the indoor basketball court.
Hill said details on parking and whether traffic will be affected will be made available soon.
Bill Holland, spokesman for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, said sheriff’s deputies will escort Trump from the Akron-Canton Airport to UA after his plane lands. The timing of his flight was not disclosed because of security concerns.
The Secret Service met with city and campus police Thursday afternoon but did not return phone calls seeking comment about the visit.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.