President Trump to Touch Down in Santa Monica Tuesday Afternoon

By Jorge Casuso

March 12, 2018 -- President Donald Trump will make a pit stop at Santa Monica Airport Tuesday afternoon on his first trip to California as president, City officials confirmed.

The president will arrive by helicopter from LAX between 2:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. before a motorcade whisks him to an evening fundraiser in Beverly Hills, officials told The Lookout.

The airport will be shut down during a window before and after the visit, they said. "We're only receiving him as a pass through," said Suja Lowenthal, the advisor to the City Manager on Airport Affairs. "It's always a unique event," she said. "It's always very special, but it's not so rare." During the past dozen years, the municipal airport has been used some eight times by a sitting president, she added.

The Santa Monica Police Department will coordinate with "federal partners" to provide security, said Lt. Saul Rodriguez, the department's spokesman.

Trump is expected to draw protesters on his first visit to a state Democratic Party candidate Hilary Clinton won in 2016 with nearly 62 percent of the vote, the highest since Franklin D. Roosevelt's election in 1936.

In Santa Monica, widely considered a bastion of liberalism once dubbed "Soviet Monica," Clinton won with some 80 percent of the vote ("Santa Monica Overwhelmingly Votes for Clinton," November 10, 2016).

The seaside city's Republicans, who make up about 14 percent of the local electorate, enthusiastically greeted the news that President Trump was touching down -- if only briefly -- in their city.

The small minority has kept a low profile since their candidate won a surprise victory they celebrated on election night at an undisclosed location.

"I'll make a few phone calls," said Donna Block, a member of Santa Monica Republican Women Federated, when she was informed POTUS was coming.
"I'll let some of the girls know."

A few minutes later, she called back with an update. "They plan to have a welcoming committee there," Block said.

Wes Welman, a local Realtor who was a major player in the local rent control wars of the 1980s and early 1990s, also was excited by the news.

"We're looking for our own Trump to make Santa Monica great again," he said.

Rosario Perry, a local landlord attorney, found the idea of Trump landing in Santa Monica comical.

"I'd tell him, 'Welcome to Soviet Monica, now's the time to meet with Putin.'"