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Donald Trump's previous visits to California have been marked by chaotic protests, violent clashes and arrests.
But his return this week may be different. It's because nobody knows where he's going.
Mr. Trump's planned trip to the Liberal Bay Area on Tuesday – his first as president – was kept secret as officials did not want to reveal the city where he was organizing an expensive fundraiser. The visit to California, his fourth visit to the state since taking office, comes at a time when the political and legal battle between the Trump administration and the Golden State Democrats is dramatically worsening.
The president, who recently criticized California cities for their growing homelessness crisis, is expected to raise millions of dollars at a lunch somewhere in the Bay Area, followed by visits to Los Angeles and San Diego. . According to initial rumors, he was going to Atherton, a suburb of Silicon Valley housing the country's richest postal code, but city officials said plans had apparently changed.
Regardless of the location, Trump's visit reminds us that while California remains a reliable democratic stronghold and the state is considered the leader of the "resistance" on the president's agenda, there are pockets of state who vote Republican and continue to support the President. And some of them open their portfolios.
"He comes here because he wants money," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School. "California is the nation's ATM. There is a lot of wealth here … it's a smart fundraiser.
Harmeet Dhillon, a member of the San Francisco National Republican Committee and co-organizer of the Bay Area fundraiser, declined to share the venue and other details with the Guardian, but announced that several hundred people would be present, some giving up to $ 100,000.
"I hope that he will see that many Californians strongly support what he is doing at the national level," she said.
In California, which has officially sued the Trump administration for dozens of times, locals have poured more money into the Trump 2020 campaign than to most Democratic candidates, according to an analysis conducted in July. At the time, the president had raised $ 3.2 million in California, more than what Democratic leaders Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders had received from supporters of Golden State.
It is likely that violent reactions will occur and that calls will be boycotted when information about California donors who will support the President this time will appear. Some anti-Trump groups in northern California have organized protest efforts, although they have struggled to make specific plans because of the unknown location, the East Bay Times reported.
Dhillon said neither she nor the others were disclosing details about the safety of "violent protesters", adding that she feared that the local police would properly protect the guests of the president.
His last trip to the region was a rally in San José in June 2016, which resulted in physical clashes between protesters and Trump fans.
In recent years, rallies in favor of Trump and the far-right events in the state have been repeatedly devolved to violence, but police and prosecutors have repeatedly targeted activists left for the purpose of arrest and prosecution even when they have been victims of attacks.
Last week, the Trump administration also raised fears in Los Angeles with a visit to the city's Skid Row, the epicenter of the homelessness crisis, sparked by rumors that the president was trying to set up a crackdown on people living on the streets. There is growing concern that the administration is looking for ways to relocate the inhabitants of the camps. According to reports, Ben Carson, Trump's secretary of housing and urban development, is also heading to Los Angeles this week.
The administration also made a secret visit to an abandoned Federal Aviation Administration facility in the area, in which it could move people, according to the Washington Post.
"We have a humanitarian crisis," said Levinson. "[Trump] rightly knows that California and Los Angeles look horrible. The goal is bad publicity for Democrats. "
Local homeless advocates told the Guardian last week that they would be happy to receive federal funding for housing and other social services, which the Trump administration has removed. But they have expressed concern about efforts to forcibly evict people or further criminalize homeless people, whether by the US government or local authorities.
"You are the American government. Treat it as a state of emergency, "said Stephen" Cue "Jn-Marie, a Los Angeles pastor who works with residents of Skid Row. "Give us the resources we need to build housing."
It is unclear whether the chair would have any legal authority over the placement of homeless people on the streets, an issue that is generally dealt with by municipal governments.
Dhillon, of the RNC, said that she was grateful that he is talking about this topic, but added, "What can the president do about it? It's an open question. It's really an essentially local problem. "
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