Trump rallies about 20,000 people in Port Huron, the largest single event in the city's history

Port Huron had never hosted a sitting president before Sunday. By the time President Donald Trump left the stage at McMorran Place Arena, City Manager James Freed was counting the crowd at about 20,000 people. "Largest single event in Port Huron history," Freed wrote in an email. He said there had been no arrests, the crowd had dispersed, every downtown restaurant was packed and every hotel was booked. "This was a monumental lift for a community our size and we completed it successfully."

Trump took the stage shortly before 3:30 p.m. to chants of "USA." He said 20,000 more people outside wanted to get in, and he told the crowd early in his remarks that he was there to defeat Abdul El Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Michigan's open Senate seat. He closed the rally shortly after 5:15 p.m. "Lets get out and do what we do best and win," he said, and he left the stage dancing to "YMCA."

Before the rally, Trump had attacked El Sayed in a post on Truth Social. El Sayed has said he "absolutely" disavows the Muslim Brotherhood. At the rally, Trump called Senate candidate Mike Rogers and Representative John James back to the stage and urged the crowd to vote for them on November 3. Rogers told the crowd, "Faith, family, freedom, our finances, lets get it done for Michigan, our future." James answered supporters who tell him he had better win. "I say, 'You better go vote.'" Trump also endorsed Representative Lisa McClain, Secretary of State candidate Anthony Forlini and Attorney General candidate Doug Lloyd.

David Beamer spoke for Rogers. His son Todd Beamer was a passenger on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, and his last known words, "Let's roll," became the close of his father's speech. "One. Two. Three. Let's roll," the elder Beamer told the crowd.

The surprise of the afternoon came near the end. Trump brought rapper Nicki Minaj to the stage. Minaj had flown in with him on Air Force One, landing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and she had given her followers a look inside the president's plane on social media. On stage she started a chant of "We love Trump." "I am so honored to be working with this president, he represents resilience, you know," she said. She said the country is at a turning point and Michigan needs to lead the movement. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung joked on social media that the White House may have found its next press secretary, five days after Katie Zachariah resigned from the job.

Trump spoke to FOX 2 Detroit before he took the stage. He said a tariff deal with Canada was in the works and could take months, and it could also be resolved before the election. Canada borders Port Huron across the Blue Water Bridge, and passenger crossings at the bridge dropped 21 percent in 2025 from a year earlier, according to data from the Bridge and Tunnel Operators Association. Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, on the Canadian side, said his residents feel disrespected and no longer visit Port Huron as they once did. Trump said the war in Iran would not be resolved until it was certain the country did not have nuclear capabilities. On either deal, he said, the point was to make a good deal however long it took. "I'm going to make a great deal. I'm a longterm person; I'm not a short term person," he said.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump called into Fox News and defended American health care against Medicare for All, a core proposal of El Sayed's campaign. "We have the best healthcare plans in the world. Now it doesn't cover everybody, but it covers a lot of people," he said. Michigan's Senate race is one of the contests that will decide control of the Senate on November 3, nine days after a weekend in which both Barack Obama and Donald Trump campaigned in the state in person.