President Donald Trump has announced that he will accept the Republican nomination for president next week from the White House, he said during a campaign rally in Wisconsin.
While presidents facing re-election have generally shied away from holding major political events at the White House, Trump is eschewing precedent with his convention speech, which will come as the capstone to next week’s Republican National Convention. The convention, which starts next Monday, will conclude on Aug. 27 with the president’s address.
One reason presidents have opted to hold events away from the White House is not to comingle government and campaign staffs. While the president and vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act, staff members and aides generally have to avoid many types of political activity. Hatch Act concerns have previously been an issue for the White House, most notably the US Special Counsel calling Trump aide Kellyanne Conway a "repeat offender" of the act.
But with this year’s convention being held virtually, speeches will be done on location. The same is true for the Democrats, who start their national convention tonight.
Trump said he had considered Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as an alternate location for his acceptance speech.