Former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump will be a featured speaker at the National Rifle Association’s Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg this week.
The event at which he will appear will take place from 5-7 p.m. on Friday at the Pa. Farm Show Complex’s Large Arena.
As most of you know, this isn’t Trump’s first visit to central Pa. He has been to the area multiple times, both when campaigning and while serving as president.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of Trump’s most notable appearances in the Harrisburg area.
2016
Trump’s first campaign appearance was on Aug. 2 at the Cumberland Valley High School gymnasium. At his next campaign stop in Virginia, he said that the city of Harrisburg “looked like a war zone” from his plane.
On Oct. 1 he made another campaign stop at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster County. His last central Pa. campaign stop was at the Giant Center in Hershey on Nov. 4, just a few days before the election. “Boy, are we going to win,” he promised at the time. “We’re going to win Pennsylvania big.” That rally drew about 13,000 supporters.
But that wasn’t the last time Trump visited the area in 2016. He graced the Giant Center again on Dec. 15, after being elected, as part of a “USA Thank You Tour.”
2017
Trump appeared at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg on May 4. About 9,500 people came out to see him, Fire Chief Brian Enterline said at the time.
Before that, he toured the Ames wheelbarrow factory in Harrisburg, where he ignored a question about his “war zone” remark. That factory later closed in 2023, after operating in the city for over 146 years.
On Oct. 12, Trump gave a speech at Harrisburg International Airport, promoting his tax reform plan.
“Our framework ensures that the benefits of tax reform go to the middle class,” he said at the time, “not to the highest earners. It’s a middle-class bill. That’s’ what we’re thinking of…That’s’ what I want.”
2019
Trump returned to the Giant Center on Dec. 10 for another campaign event. “America is winning again. America is winning again like never before,” he said during the event, trying to make a case for being re-elected in 2020. “This country is so respected and we were not respected four years ago.”
2020
Trump’s first campaign rally of the year was on Sept. 26 at the Harrisburg International Airport. It was the same day he announced Amy Coney Barrett as a replacement for Ruth Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
He then held a campaign rally at Lancaster Airport on Oct. 26, where he said that the Amish would help propel him to victory that November.
“We have the Pennsylvania Dutch,” he said during his monologue in Lititz. “They’re great people. They’re great people But they’re not known for going out and voting for a lot of reasons.