Trump Compresses Presidential Acceptance Speech at White House and Gettysburg

Both Locations Are Federal Properties with Possible Legal Violations
TV Debate Preparation Team Launched as a 'Winning Move'

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. President Donald Trump on the 10th (local time) identified two locations for his presidential candidate acceptance speech: the White House and the Gettysburg battlefield.

President Trump tweeted, "We have narrowed down the location for the acceptance speech on the last night of the convention," stating, "The great battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the White House in Washington, D.C.," adding, "We will announce the decision soon."

President Trump had previously announced that he would cancel the convention scheduled for July 24-27 in Jacksonville, Florida, and would separately reveal the location for the acceptance speech.

In a Fox News interview on the 5th, Trump said the location had not been finalized but mentioned, "Probably it will be broadcast live from the White House." However, in this case, the White House staff would face criticism for violating the Hatch Act, a law that restricts political activities of federal employees funded by federal budgets.

Despite such criticism, President Trump has not ruled out the possibility of holding the acceptance speech at the White House.

In particular, the newly added candidate site, the Gettysburg battlefield, is also federal property, raising concerns that controversy is likely.

Gettysburg is famous as the site where President Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech during the Civil War. President Trump has shown an obsession with Lincoln, considered the greatest Republican president.

During the 2016 presidential election, Trump also gave a speech at Gettysburg. In May, Trump held a broadcast town hall meeting inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., which drew criticism. The interior of the Lincoln Memorial is also a prohibited venue for events.

Trump Forms TV Debate Preparation Team

President Trump has formed a small team to prepare for the upcoming presidential candidate TV debates starting next month and has begun devising debate strategies to counter Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden.

According to the online media Axios, two weeks ago over a weekend, Trump met with close aides at his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, to discuss how to prepare for the TV debates against Biden.

Attendees included Jared Kushner, White House Senior Advisor and Trump's son-in-law; Bill Stepien, campaign manager; Jason Miller, White House Senior Advisor; and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Axios reported. Christie will play the role of Biden. He also played the role of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.

They agreed to meet at least once every ten days until the first debate, calling in experts depending on the topic, while keeping the group small with no more than five to six people to prevent leaks of discussion content.

The presidential TV debates will be held three times: starting September 29 in Indiana, October 15 in Florida, and October 22 in Tennessee.

Trump's closest aides believe the TV debates are crucial for overturning the current situation where Trump is trailing former Vice President Biden in polls, and the campaign also views the debates as a decisive turning point, Axios reported.

Recently, the Trump campaign tried to move the TV debates earlier before absentee voting began but was unsuccessful.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.