After it was reported that threats of protests got a presidential visit to a Harley Davidson plant in Milwaukee, WI canceled, the Trump administration has announced that the President will be meeting Harley Davidson execs and union leaders at the White House.
The White House added the lunch on late Thursday morning, “The President will greet Harley Davidson executives and union representatives upon arrival on the South Lawn at 12:10PM. There will be an in-house pool spray. The President will then have lunch with Harley Davidson executives and union representatives at 1:00PM.”
The Trump administration and Harley Davidson deny that there was ever a scheduled presidential visit, but The Washington Post reported, “But workers said preparations for the president were well underway. Nearly a week after he signed an executive order barring citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries and refugees from entering the United States, Trump was quietly scheduled to touch down in the Rust Belt state, which flipped from blue to red in the 2016 election. Secret Service members had cleared rooms in a Hilton hotel in Milwaukee, and agents had already toured the Harley-Davidson facility in Menomonee Falls, said a hotel worker and two factory employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because their employers had not authorized them to talk to the media.”
Press Secretary Sean Spicer explained on Wednesday that it was easier for Trump to have Harley Davidson come to the White House. The fact that the demonstrators, who are organized as the Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump had planned a massive protest outside of the Harley factory were completely unrelated to what the White House says was a matter of convenience.
Donald Trump is a man who loves his rallies and adoring crowds. There has been a great deal of concern by those close to Trump that he would hate the insular life of a president in the White House.
The truth is that the visit was changed to a White House lunch to avoid the protesters. The protesters are claiming victory because they kept Trump out of Milwaukee. The White House response of we were never going to go there anyway was weak.
What the Harley Davidson episode demonstrates is that Trump is administration might be as thin skinned as the president. Even the threat of protests can get an event moved.
For those who oppose Trump, the message is clear. Protest long. Protest often, and never give up the fight.