Trump to campaign in Wisconsin and Michigan next week during off day from hush money trial

Former President Trump will hold campaign events next week in Wisconsin and Michigan, marking the first time he will use a day off from his hush money trial in New York City to visit a battleground state.

Trump will head to Waukesha next Wednesday, where his campaign said he will deliver remarks “to contrast the peace, prosperity, and security of his first term with Joe Biden’s failed presidency.”

Trump is expected to highlight rising prices that have been a persistent issue for the Biden administration, as well as the surge of migrants at the southern border that has had ripple effects in nonborder states across the country.

“The bottom line is that the Badger State is suffering under Biden, and President Trump will once again deliver safety and affordability to Wisconsin!” Trump’s campaign said in a release announcing the event.

Following the Wisconsin event, Trump will head to Freeland, Mich., where he will deliver remarks at a rally that evening, his campaign said.

“After spending the last few weeks dozing off and bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade, Donald Trump is visiting Waukesha next week in a desperate bid to do damage control on his record of ripping away women’s freedoms and encouraging thousands of rioters to try to violently overturn an election,” Brianna Johnson, the Biden campaign’s communications director for Wisconsin, said in a statement.

“Wisconsinites know Trump has nothing to offer but resentment and division – and are keenly aware that his agenda would make the lives of families across our state worse,” she added.

Trump has repeatedly complained during appearances outside the courtroom in Manhattan that he is being kept off the campaign trail as he seeks a second term in the White House in a rematch with President Biden in November.

Trump is required to be in court four days a week as he faces charges over falsifying business records related to an alleged hush money scheme to keep quiet an affair during the 2016 campaign. Wednesdays are typically off days from the trial, and next week will mark the first time Trump will use that time to campaign.

The former president’s rally was scheduled for last Saturday in North Carolina, but it was canceled due to severe weather.

Biden, meanwhile, has hit the road aggressively in recent weeks, visiting Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and other states to tout his agenda and attack Trump over abortion and his economic positions.

Updated on April 25 at 1:35 p.m.