President Donald Trump plans to visit Sparrows Point on Tuesday, the first time he’s been to the Baltimore area in about 10 months.
Trump is set to speak at an event held by Anduril Industries, a defense technology firm that has been scouting a potential production facility at the Tradepoint Atlantic campus.
The Republican president has been in the Baltimore region five times in the last decade, and reactions to his visits have ranged from open embrace to outright hostility. Here’s how they went.
Army-Navy football game, 2025
Trump’s most recent foray to Baltimore came at last season’s Army-Navy football game at M&T Bank Stadium.
Outside the stadium, demonstrators both for and against the president made their opinions known.
Just a few months earlier, Trump had called the city a “hellhole” and threatened to send National Guard troops to quell crime. (Never mind that murders have reached historic lows.)
At halftime, Trump made the traditional walk from Navy’s side to Army’s side of the field.
Navy came out on top, 17-16, scoring the winning touchdown on a fourth-and-goal late in the game. Trump didn’t get to see the spectacular finish, having departed the stadium when Army was still ahead.
Memorial Day, 2020
Amid the stressful early months of the coronavirus pandemic during his first term, Trump commemorated Memorial Day at the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.
While honoring the nation’s war dead, Trump also acknowledged the toll of the virus.
“As one nation, we mourn alongside every single family that has lost loved ones, including the families of our great veterans,” Trump said. “Together, we will vanquish the virus, and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights.”
Pictures from the event show some participants wearing masks or face shields.
Ahead of the ceremony, city leaders complained that the president would be violating the state’s restrictions on gatherings.
“We don’t need to be spending our resources for the president who’s coming here under our orders to stay at home. I think he’s violating the law,” then-Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young said at the time.
Republican lawmakers event, 2019
When Congressional Republicans gathered at a Harbor East hotel for a retreat in September 2019, they welcomed Trump as their keynote speaker.
The lawmakers showered Trump with applause during his hour-plus speech.
But outside, it was a different story. A crowd lined President Street, with Trump opponents severely outnumbering the relatively few Trump supporters.
Many were inspired, or perhaps provoked, by Trump’s comments a couple months earlier that Baltimore is a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” Rat-themed signs and props were in abundance, and there was a giant inflatable rat on the scene.
When Trump’s motorcade rolled down President Street toward Harbor East, the crowd offered up a hearty stream of expletives and profane hand gestures.
Army-Navy football game, 2016
As president-elect, Trump was on hand at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore when the Army Black Knights ended a 14-game losing streak in the annual Army-Navy football game.
Trump spent time during the game sitting in suites on both the Army and Navy sides of the field.
“I just love the armed forces, love the folks. The spirit is so incredible. I mean, I don’t know if it’s necessarily the best football, but it’s very good,” Trump said on a broadcast of the game. “But boy do they have spirit, more than anybody. It’s beautiful.”
Trump was cheered when he was shown on the stadium video board, but there were demonstrators outside, chanting “No Hate. No Fear. Immigrants are welcome here” and “We reject the president-elect,” according to reports.
Military conference and diner lunch, 2016
When Trump was campaigning in September 2016 ahead of his first presidential victory, he made a sweep through Baltimore, even though Maryland has a long history of overwhelmingly supporting Democratic candidates.
Trump spoke at the National Guard Association’s annual conference at the Inner Harbor before heading out to Dundalk.
He dined at the Boulevard Diner, a popular spot that’s especially loved by Republican politicians. His dining companions were former Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr., state Sen. Johnny Ray Salling and the Rev. Stacey Shiflett.
Trump didn’t speak to his fans who crammed into the diner and tried to snap pictures of the candidate. The diner’s owner served hamburgers and crab cakes and called the moment “a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
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