Former President Donald Trump looks forward to downtown Fort Myers

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Former President Donald Trump is expected in downtown Fort Myers for the Lee County GOP’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner at 6 p.m., but it’s unclear when Trump will actually arrive.

While you may catch a glimpse of the former president, this event that comes just weeks after Trump travels to Manhattan for his arraignment will be a little different than his previous stops in Southwest Florida.

This is not a campaign rally. The Lincoln-Reagan Dinner is a private, ticketed event, and it sold out earlier. But WINK News is here to cover it.

Michael Thompson, chairman of the Lee County Republican Executive Committee, said having Trump in Fort Myers will boost the local GOP’s campaign offerings for 2024, but he wouldn’t commit to the Lee County GOP endorsing Trump as president.

Florida’s two congressmen, Rep. Greg Steube, who represents Charlotte County, and Rep. Byron Donalds, who represents Lee and Collier counties who will also attend the event, however, has already endorsed Trump.

Donalds spoke to WINK about what he is looking forward to.

Interested to see what the presidents have to say; he does what he does, Donalds said. And so I just really want to hear what’s on his mind, what he’s focused on, and he’s happy to be supportive of the lee county republican party, all of their hard work over the years.

While Trump has already announced he will run for re-election in 2024, he may have some competition, as speculation grows that Gov. Ron DeSantis ran. Trump has been seen on the news calling DeSantis names such as “Ron DeSanctimonious.” And while DeSantis has ignored it for months, he’s starting to fight back.

WINK asked Thompson if the Lee County GOP might consider endorsing DeSantis or another Republican candidate over Trump in 2024.

“I don’t think, you know, the Florida Republican Party is going to be involved in that discussion,” Thompson said. “You know, we’ll leave that up to the voters of Florida who they decide, but I know the media is interested in this topic, as well as a lot of people.”

With Trump’s visit and the Music Walk taking place at the same time, expect downtown Fort Myers to be extremely busy on Friday night.

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