KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President Donald Trump landed in Kansas City, Missouri close to 10:40 a.m. to speak at the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, or VFW, national convention.
VFW is a nonprofit veterans’ service organization.
Trump will speak to roughly 10,000 attendees at the convention.
Veteran Fritz Mihelcic saw presidential candidates* speak at past #VFW conventions-says he likes hearing from both sides on military issues pic.twitter.com/cqASn5E5RD
— Rae Daniel (@RAEtheReporter) July 24, 2018
RELATED: Parts of downtown to close for President Trump's visit
VFW Senior Vice Commander in Chief, B.J. Lawrence said a lot of planning goes into national conventions. And every year, it’s a long-standing tradition to invite the President.
“The reason we do that is we want to give our membership, our veterans an opportunity to hear our Commander in Chief bring his message to our convention,” Lawrence said.
Two veterans share their thoughts on what they’d like to hear from @realDonaldTrump later this morning:@41actionnews pic.twitter.com/ciHdzI9rbB
— Rae Daniel (@RAEtheReporter) July 24, 2018
This will be President Trump’s first time speaking at the national convention as president.
RELATED: Trump visit bringing crowds, road closures to downtown KCMO
He did speak to attendees at a previous convention when he was a candidate.
Lawrence said he hopes the president will tackle issues from healthcare to funding.
“Our members will be listening to see what future goals and plans are in the works as far as VA healthcare, medical entitlements and benefits,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence also said he’s hoping to hear the president’s thoughts on proper funding for the military and training, readiness and quality of life issues not just for the veterans, but their families as well.
—
