Trump heads to Minnesota to campaign after attending son Barron's Florida high school graduation – Winnipeg Free Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Former President Donald Trump will travel to Minnesota on Friday night, a day off from trial, to raise money for a Republican fundraiser in the traditionally Democratic state, which he could lift in November.

Trump will host the state GOP's annual Lincoln Reagan dinner, which coincides with the party's state convention, after attending his son Barron's high school graduation in Florida. Trump attended the graduation ceremony on Friday morning with his wife, Melania Trump, and his father, Victor Knaves.

Trump will spend part of the day granted by a court judge campaigning in Minnesota, where he says he can win a rematch with President Joe Biden in November. No Republican presidential candidate has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972, but Trump came close to sweeping the state in 2016, falling behind Democrat Hillary Clinton by 1.5 percentage points.

Trump returned to Minnesota several times in 2020, when Biden beat him by 7 percentage points.

“I think that's what Trump wants to do. He believes that this country can win. We believe so,” Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hann said in an interview.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, a Biden ally, said Trump's campaign is “grasping at straws” if it thinks it can win the state.

“The Biden campaign is working hard for every vote,” Smith said in an interview. “We will be talking to voters across the state. But I think the voters of Minnesota will choose President Biden.”

Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, graduated from the private Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. Former President Judge Juan M. Merchan complained that he was not allowed to go to the prom until he agreed to skip court on Friday.

Hann is having dinner Friday with Trump's state campaign chairman, Rep. Tom Emmer of Central Minnesota. Hann said Emmer was instrumental in bringing the former president to Minnesota.

The dinner coincides with the party's state convention. Tickets start at $500 and go up to $100,000 for a 10-person VIP table with three photo opportunities with Trump. Hann declined to say how much money he will raise, but he expects a full house of about 1,400 people.

All of the money from the luncheon tickets will go to the state party, Hann said, but he added that some of the money from the photos could go to the Trump campaign.