Days before the November election, when presidential candidates typically invade battleground states to eliminate every last of their supporters, former President Trump will headline a rally at the Madison New York’s Square Garden on Sunday.

The event takes place in a historic Manhattan arena that hosted the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971, visits from two popes, multiple national political conventions and countless major music and sporting events. It’s also where Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy.

It’s the type of venue that would appeal to Trump, a New York native who reveled in his reputation as an accomplished Big Apple billionaire businessman and sought-after bachelor, long before running for office.

The rally at the Garden represents the end of the improbable start to his 2015 presidential campaign. After descending a golden escalator at Trump Tower, the site of his family’s penthouse that was their primary residence until 2019, Trump announced his candidacy for the White House. The Trump campaign is billing the appearance as a landmark event in the final days of the campaign.

Calling the rally “historic,” Trump’s campaign said it would bring together celebrities, elected officials and the former president’s friends and family.

“This epic event, in the heart of President Trump’s hometown, will be a showcase of the historic political movement that President Trump has built in the final days of the campaign,” the campaign said in a statement announcing the rally schedule where Trump is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. (Pacific).

Introductory speakers include Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate; sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.; daughter-in-law Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee; House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana; Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Manhattan, to two Georgia election officials who successfully sued him. defamation.

Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, have recently spent time in states that will almost certainly have no impact on the outcome of the 2024 presidential race because of their respective partisan leanings.

On Friday, Harris was endorsed by music icon Beyoncé in the singer’s hometown of Houston. Texas last voted for a Democrat for president in 1976, and Trump is comfortably ahead in every presidential poll in the state. However, as the state’s demographics and politics shift, incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz appears to face a tougher challenge than expected from Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, a former professional football player.

“We can’t let Texas go blue,” Cruz said in an emailed fundraising appeal Saturday. “Texas is in danger.”

Harris has an even bigger lead over Trump in polls in her home state of California, but the former president rallied his supporters in the Coachella Valley earlier this month.

Although California and New York are predominantly Democratic, due to their size they are home to millions of Republican voters.

The former president would like to increase his share of the popular vote. Additionally, California and New York are home to more than a dozen competitive congressional races that are likely to determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Embattled incumbent Rep. Ken Calvert, the longest-serving Republican member of California’s congressional delegation, was endorsed by Trump on the same day the Corona Republican spoke at the former president’s Coachella Valley rally . Appearances by New York’s Republican congressional incumbents and candidates are expected at Trump’s Sunday rally.

On Sunday, Harris was in Philadelphia, the largest city in the critical state of Pennsylvania. As part of Democrats’ “Souls to the Polls” effort, Harris spoke at a historically black church in West Philadelphia.

“We were born for such times as this,” Harris told parishioners at Christian Compassion Church as they stood. “Right now we are faced with a real question: what kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos, fear and hatred, or a country of freedom, justice and compassion?

Later, she spoke to local leaders and black men — a voting bloc some Democrats worry Harris won’t do well with — at Philly Cuts, a nearby hair salon.

She is also expected to greet voters at a Puerto Rican restaurant in North Philadelphia and speak with families on basketball courts in the city’s Northwest, the Harris campaign official said.

Over the next few days, the vice president is expected to campaign in Michigan, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona. Harris is expected to deliver closing arguments Tuesday evening — a week before Election Day — at the Ellipse near the White House, the site where Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress prepared to certify the election. 2020, before his supporters stormed. the US Capitol.

After Trump’s appearance in Manhattan, he is expected to hold rallies in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and Virginia.