President Donald Trump canceled his planned Saturday visit to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama-Georgia football game as Hurricane Isaias moved toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, with the storm’s projected path including the city. Trump said first responders needed to focus on helping people, not on his presence or safety.
The Visit Is Canceled
Trump announced the cancellation on Friday, Oct. 9. He had planned to attend Saturday night's game between the No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. The hurricane was expected to affect the city on game day.
In a social media post, Trump said the storm made it important for first responders to concentrate on helping people, “and in no way be thinking about the safety, or presence, of the President of the United States, ME!” He said he canceled so attention could stay on the emergency response rather than his visit.
Trump said he’d miss what he called a “potentially unbelievable Game, Alabama vs. Georgia.” He hoped the game would go ahead despite the weather, and said he’d visit both football teams at a later date.
Trump won’t attend the planned game. The base report didn’t say whether the game itself would be postponed or canceled; he expressed hope that it would proceed.
Storm Preparations in the Gulf Coast States
Hurricane Isaias strengthened on Thursday as it moved toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. Its projected path included Tuscaloosa, where officials had scheduled the Alabama-Georgia contest.
The storm prompted mandatory evacuations in parts of Florida, and Alabama issued emergency declarations. Forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surges, tornadoes and flooding. Those warnings formed the immediate backdrop to Trump’s decision to cancel his trip.
The reported measures focused on public safety: authorities ordered evacuations in parts of Florida, while Alabama issued emergency declarations. The report didn’t specify which areas in Alabama those declarations covered or how many people they affected.
Trump’s post tied the cancellation directly to first responders’ work. He said they should focus on helping people and shouldn’t have to think about the president’s safety or presence. The report included no further details about local response operations.
Campaign Rally Still Planned
Trump still planned to speak Saturday at a campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee. According to his social media post, the rally supported Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
His Alabama trip and the Clarksville rally were both planned for Saturday, but the storm led him to cancel the football-game visit while keeping the rally on his schedule. The report didn’t provide further information about the rally or say whether the hurricane would affect it.
That left the Tuscaloosa appearance off Trump’s Saturday schedule, while his planned speech in Clarksville remained. The game, the storm’s projected path, emergency declarations in Alabama and evacuations in parts of Florida were the reported circumstances surrounding the change.