President Donald Trump will visit Gastonia on Wednesday, aiming to give a boost to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley in his hometown.
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Trump will deliver remarks at Gastonia Municipal Airport on Gaston Day School Road starting at 7 p.m., officials said.
The visit comes as Whatley, who is from Gastonia, and Democrat Roy Cooper are making bids for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Thom Tillis. The midterm elections are Nov. 3.
“I am thrilled to welcome Donald J. Trump to my home of Gastonia next Wednesday,” Whatley said in a social media post.
The event comes on the heels of the GOP’s unorthodox midterm convention in Dallas this week, which Whatley attended. Whatley has a close relationship with the president, who handpicked him to run for U.S. Senate. Whatley has made no effort to distance himself from Trump, despite trailing his Cooper, the former governor, by an average of eight points in public polls.
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Trump won North Carolina by 3 percentage points in 2024. Nearly two years later, his approval rating here has fallen to its lowest level yet, according to a poll from Elon University conducted in August. It found 31% of North Carolinians approve of the job that Trump is doing as president.
People seeking tickets to attend Trump’s visit can register via Who.nucleuspages.com, a platform used by the Trump campaign. Tickets are available on a “first come first served” basis, officials said.
Trump visited Gastonia’s airport in 2024, as he was campaigning for re-election.
Gastonia Municipal Airport is about a 25-mile drive west from Charlotte.
This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 7:12 AM with the headline “President Donald Trump to visit Gastonia on Wednesday, officials say.”
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