Montanans react to Trump returning to the Treasure State

HELENA — One thing is clear, regardless of what people think about former president Donald Trump: They know his return to Montana is likely to bring a lot of attention.

Trump, now again the Republican presidential nominee, will be back in the Treasure State next week, for a campaign rally Friday, Aug. 9, in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman. It will be his sixth rally in Montana, and the first since 2018.

Trump campaigned in Billings in 2016, during the Republican presidential primaries. He then traveled to the state four times in 2018 – holding events in Great Falls, Billings, Missoula and Bozeman – as Republicans sought to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Tester is on the ballot again this year, and Trump has endorsed his GOP challenger, Gallatin County businessman Tim Sheehy.

Paul Bellamy was living in north-central Montana in 2018 and says he wasn’t able to attend any of Trump’s rallies, but he knows people who did.

“It drew a lot of people in,” he said. “They were pretty upfront about it – they thought it was a pretty good thing.”

Bellamy says he likes Trump’s business experience, and he hopes he’ll have a localized message at this event.

“I don’t think he needs to boast on his record as much as he does,” he said. “I want to hear more about what he’s going to do for Montana. I believe that a rural state like we have, we get forgotten about a lot, especially back East.”

The Trump campaign allowed people to start requesting tickets for the rally on Thursday. Joan Haubein, of Helena, says she would love to attend, but her family is dealing with some health problems at the moment. She says she wants to hear Trump talk about issues like border security and about what she calls “ridiculous” policies coming out of the federal government.

“We should be able to say, in this country, what we believe without being put down or called racist or anything else,” she said.

Haubein believes Trump’s visit will be a good thing for Montana.

“People need to speak out and they need to vote – whether they’re Democrat or Republican, we need votes,” she said.

Of course, many Montanans aren’t as supportive of Trump’s visit. MTN spoke to a number of them who didn’t want to go on-camera for this story, but who had concerns about things like the tone of the campaign.