For years, Arizona has been one of President Donald Trump’s favorite spots to campaign.
He was a frequent visitor in 2015 and 2016 on his way to the Republican nomination. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Arizona in 2016 to capture the state’s 11 electoral votes. In the process, he helped set a record for the number of major-party presidential campaign visits to the traditionally Republican-leaning state.
In 2020, Trump again made multiple visits to the state as it emerged as a new presidential battleground. Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in Arizona by fewer than 11,000 votes in the closest race in the country.
Out of office, Trump returned to Arizona for political rallies during the 2022 election cycle, often baselessly lamenting a “stolen” and “rigged” election.
During his successful 2024 reelection campaign, Trump again helped set the Arizona record for visits from presidential candidates on his way to defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Trump's latest visit to Arizona will be Oct. 14 for a pre-election rally for Republicans in Bullhead City.
Here's a rundown of his visits.
Donald Trump speaks during a rally on Sept. 12, 2024 at Tucson's Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. In his speech Trump promised to bring down mortgage rates to 2% and said he would “ban all mortgages for illegal aliens." He also doubled down on false claims that immigrants were eating house pets in Ohio.
2016 campaign
July 11, 2015: Eventual Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump makes his first stop in Phoenix, focusing on immigration and helping set the tone for his upstart campaign.
Dec. 16: Trump packs the airport in Mesa a day after one of the Republican debates.
March 19, 2016: Protesters couldn’t stop Trump from drawing thousands to a raucous rally in Fountain Hills the weekend before the state’s presidential primary. He also stopped in Tucson.
June 18: Trump packs the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on a blistering summer day.
Aug. 31: Trump outlines his hard-line plans for dealing with immigration and border security in a widely anticipated speech in Phoenix. Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence was on hand for the event.
Oct. 4: Trump tries to energize his conservative base at a stop in Prescott Valley.
Oct. 29: Trump schedules a record-breaking seventh Arizona stop in a visit to the Phoenix Convention Center.
The first term
Aug. 22, 2017: In his first visit to the state after his inauguration, Trump renewed a push for border wall funding during his visit to the Arizona border. Later, he held a rally at the Phoenix Convention Center that memorably ended with police using pepper spray and stun grenades to disperse protesters on the city’s streets.
Oct. 19, 2018: Trump spends 36 hours in Arizona, including an inspection of Luke Air Force Base in Glendale with Rep. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, and culminating with a political rally in Mesa for her Senate campaign.
2020 campaign
Feb. 19, 2020: President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, touting the national economy.
May 5: Trump tours a Phoenix Honeywell facility making respirator masks to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and discusses aid to Native Americans.
June 23: Trump addresses a church full of mostly maskless young people in Phoenix amid a pandemic that followed his disastrous, half-empty rally in Tulsa days earlier. He visited the border wall in Yuma earlier in the day.
Aug. 18: Trump visits Yuma during the Democratic National Convention to highlight his record on building a border wall and attack his Democratic opponent’s ambitions on immigration.
Sept. 14: Trump holds a roundtable event with a group called Latinos for Trump at the Arizona Grand Resort in an effort to pull in support with a demographic that could be key to carrying the swing state.
Oct. 19: On a day overshadowed by his private insults for epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, Trump targets his base in a hangar visit to Prescott and seeks to boost GOP turnout in a Tucson hangar stop.
Oct. 28: On a day that broke the state’s record for presidential-ticket visits, Trump held rallies in Bullhead City and Goodyear.
Between terms
July 24, 2021: Trump attends a Turning Point Action rally in Phoenix and predicts the ongoing ballot review would vindicate his claims of a stolen election.
Jan. 17, 2022: Trump packs 15,000 into a rally in Florence to hear him lament a stolen election, rip President Joe Biden and tease at another run.
July 22, 2022: Trump boosted his Republican picks ahead of the August primary at an event in Prescott Valley. It dwarfed events held the same day involving Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Oct. 9, 2022: In his third Arizona visit of the year, Trump urged Republicans to support Kari Lake, Blake Masters and the rest of his GOP picks in the midterm elections during a rally in Mesa.
2024 campaign
June 6: The former president predicted an apocalyptic future for America if he were not elected to a second term. Trump bragged about the nation’s border security on his watch and heaped scorn on President Joe Biden. Trump called his New York trial a “rigged” case and said his only crime was winning the 2016 election.
Aug. 22-23: Trump visited the southern border on Aug. 22 and held a rally in Glendale on Aug. 23, his first trip to the battleground state since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee. In Glendale, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Trump's candidacy.
Sept. 12: Speaking at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson, Trump promised to bring down mortgage rates to 2% and said he would “ban all mortgages for illegal aliens." He doubled down on false claims that immigrants were eating house pets in Ohio.
Oct. 13: In Prescott Valley, Trump accepts the endorsement of a Border Patrol union and vows to hire thousands of new border agents and give them $10K bonuses. Trump previously visited Prescott Valley in 2016 and 2022.
Oct. 24: Trump said during a rally at Arizona State University the country is occupied by a “migrant invasion” and promised to “liberate” the United States if he were returned to the White House.
Oct. 31: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson tossed friendly questions at Trump, who for about 90 minutes covered years of familiar material and also described a disturbing image involving Liz Cheney.
The second term
Sept. 21, 2025: Trump travels to Glendale for the Charlie Kirk memorial service at State Farm Stadium. Trump headlines the event, though Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, stood out for offering tearful forgiveness on an occasion when Trump incorrectly blamed most political violence on the left.
April 17, 2026: The president returned to Dream City Church in Phoenix for a Turning Point "Build the Red Wall" event that focused on Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire in the 2026 midterms. "We have to win the midterms," he said.
Oct. 14, 2026: Trump was expected to appear in the GOP stronghold of Bullhead City for a pre-election rally for Republicans.
