Trump To Attend San Diego Fundraiser At US Grant Hotel
Speaker 1: 00:00 President. Donald Trump is on a fundraising swing through California and he's in San Diego today. A sold out fundraising luncheon is taking place at the u s grant hotel. I spoke with KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman while he awaited the arrival of president Trump. Matt. Hello. How are you? Speaker 2: 00:19 Good morning. How are you doing? Speaker 1: 00:20 What's the scene like where you are and where are you? Speaker 2: 00:24 Yeah, so right now we're right next to the U S Grant Hotel right by Horton Plaza. And there's a lot of people out here right now. Lots of pro Trump protesters, but a lot more anti Trump protesters. Uh, there's actually a, the infamous giant, uh, baby Trump balloon, uh, floating right above the street here next to the u s grant hotel. But a lot of people out here protesting, there was actually just some anti-vaxxer protesters that came out, which caused a pretty big stir. A pretty quiet though. Just some shouting back and forth. There's kind of Trump protester Trump supporters on one side and anti Trumpers on the other side. Speaker 1: 00:58 How about, how big is the crowd out there? Speaker 2: 01:02 Um, you know, I'm not an official guesstimate here, but I would say there's probably three, 300 people out here, three, 400 people. Speaker 1: 01:09 Now what can you tell us about the president's visit to California so far and about this fundraiser at the u s grant? Speaker 2: 01:18 Yes. So He's been in other places in California and then he's going to be coming here today. He's going to be visiting the border later. But first he has this fundraiser at the u s grant hotel. From what we've been told, it's sold out and there was a long line of cars to get in there this morning. A really nice cars too. I mean, we're talking very expensive cars. People we talked to said that they believed that the donors are, some of the people who don't support the president say that they believed that the donors are worse than the president because they're paying these thousands of dollars to get the access to him. And that's what's, uh, corrupt with the political system out here. Um, but a lot of people going, we know that we know at least a few people who are going, oh, we saw Carl de Myo, former San Diego city councilman also running for Congress, running for Dunkin Hunter seat. Uh, we saw a, we know elk alcohol. Mayor Bill Wells will be attending this fundraiser as well as former congressman Darrell Eissa Speaker 1: 02:09 is mayor Kevin Faulkner meeting with the president. Speaker 2: 02:13 You know, I reached out to his people and I did not hear back, but I saw, um, in other reports like the Union Tribune that he would not be attending. Uh, also supervisor Kristin gas bar who has made a trip to the White House. Uh, we reached out to her to see if she would be attending. She is not attending also. Speaker 1: 02:27 Now this is a fundraising swing through California. Do we know how much money a is expected to be raised? Speaker 2: 02:35 Yeah. You know, that there's, there's a few reports out there. I mean, people are saying that $15 million total will be raised in California. And a lot of people say, you know, San Diego doesn't have a lot of Trump supporters, but he's expected to raise $4 million here. So that's quite a bit of money. Uh, some of the people that we talked to said that they heard the tickets were going around $2,800 a seat to potentially way, way more than that. Speaker 1: 02:57 Now I read that the president is also expected to visit the border. There's after noon. Do we know if that's true and do we know what he's intending to do there? Speaker 2: 03:08 Yes. So the president is expected to visit a portion of the border, um, near Oh, Oti Mesa. Uh, I believe, and uh, I heard that he might be meeting with, um, like the chiefs of the chief of customs and border protection, the acting chief Kevin [inaudible]. Um, so I don't know if that's true or not, but I heard that he might be meeting with him. I saw some reports on that I'll be at, but it sounds like he's going to be going to the border and some of these protesters hearsay that they plan to follow him. Speaker 1: 03:31 Oh, the precedent, uh, lost of course, the state of California by 30 points in 2016. You're seeing a lot of people there who are standing there supporting him and paying a lot of money to see him today. What does his support look like today across the state? Speaker 2: 03:48 So a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that only 32% of California adults approve of Trump's job performance. But keep that in mind. That poll also found 82% of Republicans do approve of him. So he's very strong with the Republican Party. It seems like, obviously, like I said, there's a lot more anti-Trump protesters out here than there are protests, pro Trump protesters. Um, and there's been some little clashes. They kind of drift back and forth to the other side and there are some yelling and shouting going back and forth. But it's pretty civil out here. Speaker 1: 04:20 Okay. So final question to you, Matt. I know you have lots to do while you're there, down there covering the president's visit, but the Trump administration, you know, now it's really a fraught time for him to visit California. He's got a legal battle with California over the administration's immigration policies. He's waiting on the state's homelessness crisis recently and today he revoked California's higher auto emission standards, which we're going to be talking about next on the program, on this fundraising swing. How is he being received by California's leaders? Speaker 2: 04:54 Right. Well, I did get a statement from supervisor Nathan Fletcher. I'm saying that the president, um, in regards to those, um, auto manufacturing industry, he says that the president is not only attacking California's environmental standards, but also the auto manufacturing industry that supports our effort. Um, I heard that council member Chris Ward from the San Diego City Council is supposed to be here protesting, um, against the president. So that's all we know. That's all I know, at least on the local level. Speaker 1: 05:19 And I have been speaking with KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman as he is standing near the u s Grand Hotel where president Trump is having a fundraising luncheon. Thank you so much, Matt. Speaker 2: 05:32 Thanks, Maureen. Speaker 3: 05:36 [inaudible].
