Trump Vs NC: Part Of GOP Convention To Be In Charlotte After All

CHARLOTTE, NC — The Republican National Convention is going to be held in Charlotte after all, kinda. That's according to a new agreement announced Thursday by the GOP event's planners that indicated the business meetings will go forward in the Queen City as planned in late August. The showcase moment of President Donald Trump's acceptance of the party's nomination, however, will be held in another state.

The news ends days of confusion surrounding the event's fate after President Donald Trump abruptly announced via Twitter that the event would not be held in Charlotte due to an impasse with state officials regarding coronavirus health restrictions.

Trump had indicated he wanted the four-day event, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 24, to be a full convention including 19,000 attendees in an arena with no requirements for social distancing or face coverings.

"Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte," Trump said. "Now, [Gov.] Roy Cooper and his representatives refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena — spend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and then tell them they will not be able to gain entry and then tell them they will not be able to gain entry. Governor Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised, " Trump said in a series of tweets June 2. "Because of [Cooper], we are not forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention."

“The RNC’s Executive Committee has voted unanimously to allow the official business of the national convention to continue in Charlotte," RNC Communications Director Michael Ahrens said in a statement Thursday, WFAE reported. "Many other cities are eager to host the president’s acceptance of the nomination, and we are currently in talks with several of them to host that celebration.”

SEE ALSO: Trump Pulls RNC Out Of NC Citing COVID-19 Restrictions

The number of GOP supporters attending those meetings, as well as the amount of space needed to accommodate them, remains unclear, the station said.

Complicating Trump's abrupt announcement of pulling out of the Charlotte event nearly two years in the making were the many signed contracts for hotels, restaurants, and venues, such as the Spectrum Center and the Charlotte Convention Center.

"I think it's important that all of those be viewed in the context of the fact that we have declared States of Emergency in Charlotte, in North Carolina and in the United States, and we have a COVID-19 pandemic," Cooper said of those agreements in a news conference Thursday afternoon.

"When I talked to the president, I commended him on not having had any rallies since March because of the potential danger to the participants," Cooper said. "So, it's pretty obvious that the state of North Carolina cannot guarantee a full arena in August because we don't know what the status of the virus will be at that point."

As of Friday, North Carolina had 33,255 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and 966 deaths.

"We want the convention here. We think it's good for North Carolina," Cooper said. "We're not going to guarantee something that we know could hurt the health and the safety of North Carolinians."