Former President Donald Trump is bringing his campaign for the White House to the Jersey Shore next month with a rally in Wildwood, returning to the spot where he held a rally during the 2020 presidential election.
Wildwood’s commissioner board approved a Trump campaign beachfront rally for May 11, according to a resolution passed Monday.
A special meeting was held to vote on a contractual matter for a “special event,” according to an agenda available on the city’s website. The agenda does not name the Republican’s campaign in the matter, but a resolution passed cites Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc.
A phone call by NJ Advance Media to Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano on Tuesday was not immediately returned. A spokesperson for Wildwood told NJ Advance Media more information would likely be available Wednesday.
It was unclear Tuesday if Trump would appear in Wildwood in person.
The resolution was approved the same day Trump appeared in a New York courtroom to begin a trial on a hush-money involving Trump and his former attorney, Michael Cohen. Prosecutors say Trump provided Cohen thousands of dollars to provide to porn actress Stormy Daniels in an attempt to cover up an affair.
That legal case is only one of several Trump faces.
Before a potential stop in New Jersey on the campaign trail, Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 20. He appeared publicly hours away from New Jersey over the weekend, holding a rally at a fairgrounds in Lehigh County.
Both a phone call and email to a spokesperson for the Trump campaign by NJ Advance Media were not immediately returned Tuesday.
The purported rally comes slightly four years after Trump held a rally before thousands of people in Wildwood at its boardwalk convention center, drawing droves of supporters and protesters to the seaside resort in cold air in January, a time when the Jersey Shore is mostly dormant.
Trump campaigned alongside U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., a fresh member of the Republican party who relinquished his affiliation with the Democrats in support of the former president.
Van Drew, like all congressional lawmakers, is up for reelection this year. His office directed questions from NJ Advance Media to his campaign team, who did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.
Trump in 2022 announced his third bid for president. He lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, underperforming in New Jersey, which has for years been considered a blue state. The last Republican presidential nominee to claim the Garden State’s electoral votes was George H. W. Bush in 1988, a time when New Jersey was considered more of a swing state.
Trump has said he believes he can win New Jersey in the upcoming election. He has several ties to the state, such as his former Atlantic City casino businesses and several Trump National golf courses. He spends much of his summers at his Bedminster course.
A poll recently released by Emerson College found Biden maintains a slimmer-than-expected lead over Trump. Results showed Biden in the lead, with 46% of voters favoriting the current president, compared to 39% who said they’d back Trump. Fifteen percent said they were undecided.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
