Trump Calls Milwaukee “Horrible City”

Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead. Photo is in the Public Domain.

Former President Donald Trump had some unfavorable words for a city he’ll spend a week in later this summer. Milwaukee is a “horrible city” he told House Republicans Thursday morning during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.

The meeting, Trump’s first visit to Capitol Hill since before the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, was to discuss campaign strategies and other Republican priorities. Not attacking the host city of the Republican National Convention apparently wasn’t on the list.

“Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city,” said Trump according to a report from Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman.

Wisconsin’s Republican delegation was split on what happened.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican who represents the western portion of Wisconsin, said on X that Trump was “specifically referring to the crime rate in Milwaukee.” He did not deny that Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city.”

But Van Orden’s statement, the first publicly offered, was disputed by the rest of the Wisconsin delegation.

Rep. Glenn Grothman didn’t deny Trump made the comment and said it was about election integrity. An aide for Rep. Scott Fitzgerald agreed with that.

Rep. Tom Tiffany told reporter Lawrence Andrea that Trump didn’t mention crime in Milwaukee and was talking about election integrity.

Rep. Bryan Steil said Trump didn’t make the comment. “There is no better place than Wisconsin in July,” he said in a social media post.

In an interview with Fox News hours after this article was first published, Trump himself didn’t deny he made the comments. “I think it was very clear what I meant. I said we are very concerned with crime,” said Trump. “I love Milwaukee. I have great friends in Milwaukee. But, as you know, the crime numbers are terrible. We have to be very careful. But I was referring to also the election, the ballots, the way it went down. It was very bad in Milwaukee. Very, very bad.”

Donald Trump lost Wisconsin by approximately 21,000 votes. A recount of votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties expanded his loss and didn’t find voter fraud. Trump has maintained baseless claims that he lost because of fraud.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place from July 15-18.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally Tuesday in Racine.

“If Donald Trump wants to talk about things that he thinks are horrible, all of us lived through his presidency, so right back at you buddy,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson, a Democrat who has welcomed the RNC to Milwaukee on the basis that is expected to be an economic boost.

The mayor called Trump’s claim “unhinged” and estimated that there are 50,000 Republicans in the city.

“I find it kind of perplexing. I find it kind of strange that he would insult the largest city in Wisconsin because he’s running for president. He obviously wants to win Wisconsin, win the election, so to insult the state that is hosting your convention is kind of bizarre actually, it’s kind of unhinged in a way,” said Johnson.

“Well, the RNC still chose Milwaukee to come to, right?” said County Executive David Crowley. “But it is my hope that not only our former president, but everybody who’s going to be embarking on Milwaukee sees everything that we have to offer, we are a great county with a great lake, we have so many great spaces for people to enjoy, no matter where you come from throughout this entire world, we have something for you to enjoy. And so I can’t wait to prove him wrong and let him know what we have to offer.”

Milwaukee’s congressional representative didn’t hesitate to criticize Trump. “Once he’s settled in with his parole officer, I am certain he will discover that Milwaukee is a wonderful, vibrant and welcoming city full of diverse neighborhoods and a thriving business community,” said Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee).

Trump is due to be sentenced in New York on July 11 for 34 felony convictions in a hush-money case involving the obscuring of payments to a porn actress to not disclose an affair in the run up to the 2016 election.

Trump previously said he is looking forward at least one thing in his visit to Milwaukee. During a campaign stop last month in Waukesha, Trump said he was excited to try vegan food from Shana Gray‘s restaurant Gray Jett Cafe, located on the Marquette University campus. Gray appeared on stage with Trump, during which Trump said she was doing better when he was in office. The business opened in 2023.

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce was also openly critical of Trump’s remarks. “Donald Trump’s comments are flatly wrong. Milwaukee, in a word, is vibrant. We’re proud of our people – diverse in makeup and hard-working to the core. We’re proud of our strong history and bright future in economic development – deeply rooted in innovation, with a tradition of driving progress in American manufacturing for over a century. We’re proud of the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in our city, employing thousands of talented Milwaukeeans. We’re proud of our cultural assets which stand among the best regardless of metro. We look forward to showing the world what Milwaukee has to offer next month. We know this city will impress,” it said in a statement.