With Trump's Doral off the table, could the 2020 G-7 Summit land in Tennessee?

President Donald Trump’s recent reversal to cancel plans to hold next year’s Group of Seven summit at his Florida golf club has thrown Nashville back into the mix of potential host cities.

Last week, Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said eight states, including Tennessee, were visited as part of a screening process.

Thus far, city and state officials have been silent about Nashville being in the running.

Laine Arnold, Gov. Bill Lee’s spokeswoman, said Tuesday she was unaware of any discussions about the G-7, an economic organization of major industrialized nations, adding the governor’s office would likely not be the first to find out.

But Music City’s potential selection would hardly be surprising, given the many connections Tennessee has to the president’s administration.

Trump has visited Tennessee five times since becoming president, including three visits to Nashville.

Major political visitors to Nashville

Aside from the president’s visits, others in the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have recently visited Nashville on separate trips. Such visits required increased security, which would be significantly bolstered during a G-7 summit with leaders from across the globe.

On Pompeo’s Oct. 8 trip, he sat down with reporters at Opryland before addressing a national conference of Christian counselors. The more than 700,000-square-foot hotel could potentially serve as enough space for the world leaders, staff, security and journalists that would attend. The hotel has roughly 2,800 rooms and plentiful space to hold meetings.

In January 2018, Trump addressed the American Farm Bureau Federation’s convention at Opryland.

Officials with Ryman Hospitality, which owns Opryland, referred questions to Marriott, which manages the resort and convention center. Marriott officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Other administration officials who have come to Nashville include Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Beyond the many visits to Music City, the administration has several other connections to Tennessee. Trump’s ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty, who played a significant role in this year’s G-7 summit, is running for U.S. Senate. And the president visited Tennessee three times while U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn was campaigning in 2018.

Blowback over plans for G-7 at Trump National Doral

The president has lashed back against critics who blasted plans to host the gathering at Trump National Doral near Miami. Though Trump said he would not accept payments for the summit, the critics suggested the event in Doral would help boost the Trump brand. 

“You don’t think I get enough promotion?" Trump questioned. "I get more promotion than any human being that’s ever lived." 

Trump reversed course Saturday on hosting the G-7 at Doral after Republicans joined Democrats in raising alarm about self-dealing and violating the emoluments clause that bans presidents from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments. Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said that the president had realized that “it looks lousy” to steer business to his own property.

Blackburn backed the reversal Tuesday during a phone call with reporters.

“It is most likely a good decision to choose a neutral location for that meeting,” she said.

Blackburn said she had “no insight into” whether the Trump administration had vetted any sites in Tennessee as potential locations for the gathering. She said she was in favor of the state being considered.

“We always appreciate when there are opportunities for our great state to be showcased,” Blackburn said.

Natalie Allison, Lizzy Alfs and the Associated Press contributed.