Trump’s Traverse City rally delayed by hours, many attendees leave

TRAVERSE CITY − Republican former President Donald Trump’s first rally of the year in Traverse City on Friday night was delayed by hours and marked by audience members streaming away from the event at Cherry Capital Airport an hour after his speech was scheduled to begin.

Trump’s 757 aircraft did not leave Austin, Texas, until around 7:30 p.m. EST, which was when his speech at the airport in Michigan’s northwest Lower Peninsula was scheduled to begin. That was some four hours after the gates opened for the event which was outdoors and utilized part of an aircraft hangar.

Thousands had gathered for the event with 11 days before Trump, running for reelection, faces the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

About 8:30 p.m., a video played from Trump on board his aircraft in which he apologized for the delay and said he expected to arrive in Traverse City about 10 p.m. and hoped people would stay around. “We’ll do an extra special job when we get there,” he said.

People still in the stands cheered at the video.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign posted on social media platform X saying that Trump was leaving Texas after a 3-hour-long interview with podcast host Joe Rogan. According to Accuweather, temperatures in Traverse City were 55 degrees with 14 miles-per-hour wind gusts. Temperatures were expected to drop into the high 40s.

Although no announcement of a delay came earlier, by 8 p.m., streams of supporters were leaving the venue. Some attendees who spoke to the Free Press as they departed criticized the fact that the delay wasn’t shared with them.

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Kipp Drake, 47, arrived in Traverse City at around 2 p.m. Friday, saying he was excited to see Trump speak in person for the first time. He had heard Trump would be later than expected from others in the crowd, he said.

“I’m kind of disappointed, but I did enjoy getting to hear the other speakers,” said Drake, who made the 45-minute drive to Traverse City from Central Lake. “An announcement would have been nice.”

Earlier in the evening, U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, and Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra were among those who spoke.

Traverse City’s Terri Glenn said she would have stayed if not for a friend’s pet.

“She has a dog,” Glenn said, gesturing to her friend as they walked out of the venue. Glenn said she had been to previous rallies and said she would try to catch Trump’s remarks on TV.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.