Former President Donald Trump will hold the first rally of his 2024 campaign in Waco, Texas, later this month.
The rally, announced Friday, will be held on the evening of Saturday, March 25, in a Republican state where the former president has a large following, raising the prospect of a packed house.
The rally comes as Trump faces the prospect of becoming the first ex-president in US history to do so, with law enforcement officials in New York currently preparing security for the possibility of legal action in the coming weeks.
Waco holds deep symbolism as the site of the 1993 Waco massacre when federal agents seized a compound of the Branch Davidians, a religious cult. The siege lasted 51 days and ended the following month with the death of cult leader David Koresh and 80 of his followers in a fire 30 years earlier.
It’s unclear whether the city’s history played a role in Trump’s decision. Trump has made several visits to the state over the years and Waco is part of McLennan County, which Trump won by more than 23 points in 2020.
But Trump has long railed against federal law enforcement. When his Mar-a-Lago club was searched by the FBI last summer as part of an investigation into possible mishandling of classified documents, he broke the news by announcing that his home was “currently under siege, raided.” was killed and captured by an elder.” Group of FBI agents.
Trump spent the first months of his campaign rarely leaving his Florida club, but has begun touring early-voting states. On Monday, he made his first trip to Iowa, where the Republican Party’s first nominating contest will be held.
The rally plan comes at a time when Trump is facing a series of investigations, including one in New York that appears to be nearing its conclusion.
Porn actor Stormy Daniels met Wednesday with Manhattan prosecutors who are probing $130,000 in secret money payments made on behalf of Trump. That same day, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged the payment, gave a second day of testimony before a New York grand jury.
The payment was made in 2016, as Trump’s first presidential campaign was in its final weeks and Daniels was in talks to appear on television to air his claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump has denied the allegation and called the investigation politically motivated.
Waco is also home to Baylor University and the headquarters of “Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Home Decorating Empire.