Poor planning could result in dismal attendance at President Donald Trump's military-themed Independence Day celebration, Politico reported Wednesday.
"The White House and Republican National Committee have spent the last week scrambling to distribute VIP tickets to President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July speech at the Lincoln Memorial," Politico reported. "Now, White House officials and allies are wringing their hands over the risk of the hastily arranged event morphing into Trump’s Inauguration 2.0, in which the size of the crowd and the ensuing media coverage do not meet the president’s own outsized expectations for the event."
Trump does not have a natural base of support in Washington, DC. During the 2016 election, he only received 4.1 percent of the vote in the city.
“They started this too late and everyone has plans already,” Republican donor Dan Eberhart said.
“Everyone will be there in spirit, but in reality, people planned their July 4th activities weeks ago," he explained.
Those fears were shared inside the White House.
“They are creating this thing from scratch, and I do not know if anyone knows how it will go off,” a White House aide said. “There are questions about the ticket distribution and who will show up. The weather might be bad. Heads are spinning.”
Trump's allies seem to prefer beaches to his rally
"An informal survey of more than a half dozen Trump donors and allies showed that none plan to attend. Several Republicans close to the White House returned POLITICO’s calls from beaches at least one plane ride away from Washington," the publication reported.