CASPER — Former President Donald Trump is expected to visit Wyoming next year for the first time.
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CASPER — Former President Donald Trump is expected to visit Wyoming next year for the first time.
Frank Eathorne, the Wyoming GOP chairman, announced Trump’s planned visit at a recent state central committee meeting in Buffalo.
Trump’s visit will carry significant weight — in early September, the former president formally endorsed Harriet Hageman in the House race against Rep. Liz Cheney, one of Trump’s chief political foes. Trump is visiting the Cowboy State to “rally in support of Harriet,” a source with direct knowledge of the matter told the Star-Tribune.
“We have no confirmed date for a rally with President Trump and that is an announcement that only he can make for himself,” Tim Murtaugh, a spokesperson for the Hageman campaign, told the Star-Tribune. “But certainly Harriet Hageman is grateful for his endorsement and strong support and knows that Wyomingites will be thrilled when he does come. It will be the biggest political event Wyoming has ever seen.”
The former president is expected to hold the event in late May or early June, according to minutes from the meeting.
Two sources told the Star-Tribune that Casper was being considered for the event.
The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WyoFile reported that one GOP leader at the meeting objected to the party sponsoring a Trump-Hageman rally. However, four Republican officials who were present at the meeting — including Natrona County Committeeman Joseph McGinley and Laramie County Republican Party Chairwoman Dani Olsen — told the Star-Tribune that Eathorne never mentioned Hageman’s name in relation to the visit.
State parties cannot spend their money to aid in the nomination of one candidate over another in the primary, according to state statute.
Trump has enjoyed great popularity in Wyoming. In the 2020 presidential election, almost 70% of Wyoming voters voted for him — his largest margin in the nation.
But there would be an added reason for the former president to visit: He’s made the defeat of Rep. Liz Cheney a key focus following her vote to impeach him over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Cheney has said that she will do anything she can to keep Trump out of political office. She has been unrelenting in her criticism of the former President, which has brought about the toughest election fight of her career.
The congresswoman was censured by the state GOP following her impeachment vote. More recently, the state GOP narrowly voted to no longer recognize her as a Republican, an action that is symbolic, but gained national media attention.
