President Trump plans to travel to North Dakota later this month to campaign for Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer, the nominee for U.S. Senate in a marquee midterm contest.
“We are pleased to announce our next scheduled Make America Great Again rally on June 27 in Fargo, North Dakota,” said Michael Glassner, the chief operating officer for Trump’s reelection campaign. “President Trump is looking forward to visiting states such as North Dakota that are critical to the GOP maintaining and expanding its majorities in the House and Senate in the mid-term elections this fall.”
Trump spent months urging Cramer to run for the Senate. Cramer jumped in the race in February after initially saying he would not run.
But more recently, Cramer’s relationship with the White House became tense, as his Democratic opponent, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, worked together with the president and his team on a banking bill and Trump largely refrained from attacking her.
At the banking bill signing ceremony, Trump recently gave Heitkamp a shout-out and a handshake. Meanwhile, Cramer and a top White House official traded warning shots with each other.
Republican strategists view North Dakota as a top pickup opportunity. The GOP is defending a 51-49 Senate majority in November. Trump won North Dakota by about 36 percentage points.
Cramer officially won the GOP nomination on Tuesday. Trump congratulated him on his victory and cited Heitkamp’s vote against the sweeping GOP tax bill he signed into law.