Trump arrives in Las Vegas ahead of Saturday rally

Debra J. Saunders and Jessica Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jan 24, 2025

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President Donald Trump arrived at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Friday night, the last stop in his trip across the U.S. after visiting disaster areas in North Carolina and Los Angeles.

Air Force One touched down at the airport about 7:40 p.m., and Trump was greeted by Gov. Joe Lombardo, Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald and others.

After a brief chat, Trump and his motorcade left the airport about 8 p.m.

“He was interested about Gov. Lombardo where he’s taking the state which is really good because he’s been a part of it,” McDonald said after the meeting.

Lombardo did not speak to reporters.

Trump is expected to visit Circa in downtown Las Vegas on Saturday at the conclusion of a trip to disaster areas in North Carolina and Los Angeles.

McDonald said the president spoke about his visits to the disaster zones.

“He’s going to fix it,” McDonald said, “We’re gonna come together as a nation and fix those communities.”

The president is expected to speak about his “no taxes on tips” proposal and the economy around 12:30 p.m. Lombardo will be on hand to greet the president at his first visit to Nevada since he was sworn into office for a second term.

Las Vegas will be Trump’s final stop in a whirlwind trip that began in North Carolina, which has yet to fully recover from last year’s devastating floods. The trip continued on to Los Angeles, parts of which have been scorched and flattened by wildfires from Pacific Palisades on the coast to Altadena in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

During his inaugural address, Trump slammed government handling of the North Carolina and Los Angeles disasters. “We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home,” the president said, to which he attributed “a crisis of trust.”

The Circa event was slated to start at 12:30 p.m. with doors opening at 9:30 a.m.

The White House does not disclose where a president overnights, but after trips to California during his first term in the White House, Trump often traveled to Las Vegas to spend the night at the Trump International hotel off the Strip — as he prefers to spend the night on his own properties.

“I’m really going to Nevada to thank them for the vote, ’cause we won Nevada overwhelmingly and that’s usually a Democrat vote,” the president offered this week.

Trump won the Silver State in 2024 after losses in 2020 and 2016.

“He’s only been in office for five days and he’s in Nevada — he’s back in Las Vegas,” McDonald said. “That says a lot about what he’s going to get done in his administration, and we’re a part of it, which is fantastic.”

(Review-Journal reporter Ricardo Torres-Cortez contributed to this story.)

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