Donald Trump to hold Alabama event this summer, says Alabama Republican Party

Former President Donald Trump plans to hold an event for the Alabama Republican Party this summer, the Alabama Republican Party said Thursday.

The announcement did not give a date or location, but said that the former president would be “headlining” a dinner for the party.

“The people of Alabama and President Trump have a special relationship, and we’re pleased to be part of bringing him back to our state,” Alabama Republican Party chair John Wahl said in a statement.

The former president is the frontrunner for his party’s presidential nomination but faces a number of legal issues. Trump was indicted in March on charges of falsifying business records, related to payments made to an adult film actress to hide an affair in the last weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has pled not guilty to the charges.

Trump is also facing investigations over his handling of classified documents, and his actions in Georgia following the 2020 presidential election.

But the former president has done well in Alabama. Trump took 43% of the vote in the 2016 Republican primary in the state and got more than twice as many votes as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the runner-up. In the general election that year, Trump got 62% of the vote in the state, which he matched in 2020.

The former president has had less success with Alabama’s U.S. Senate elections. In 2017, he endorsed then-U.S. Sen. Luther Strange in a special election for the seat. Strange lost to former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Trump then endorsed Moore, despite allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore, ranging from assault to inappropriate conduct. Moore, who denied the charges, lost to Democratic nominee Doug Jones in the December election.

In 2021, Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, for the Senate seat being vacated by then-U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. But after Brooks declined in the polls, Trump rescinded the endorsement. He later backed eventual winner Katie Britt, who led most polls in a runoff against Brooks last spring.