Donald Trump will visit Fort Myers on October 23, and FGCU’s Alico Arena will host the event. The university sent out a campus-wide alert about a large, private gathering at the arena on the same day. At first, officials wouldn’t confirm the exact details, just the event, nothing else. Eventually, the Republican National Committee’s reservation site named Alico Arena as the official venue.
Florida Politics broke the news, reporting Trump’s return to his home state with a voter rally as midterms approach. The RNC initially withheld the venue details but offered tickets online.
Trump’s been to Fort Myers a few times before, but he used different venues: he spoke at the Caloosa Sound Convention Center for the Lee County GOP’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in 2023 and hit the Hertz Arena back in 2018. This time, the Florida Everblades hockey team has a game at Hertz on the same night, so the event requires a new location. The GOP’s event reservation site confirmed the venue.
Big crowds and presidential security always stir up traffic headaches across Southwest Florida, especially around the campus and South Lee County. Obama brought the same challenges when he visited downtown in 2009 and 2012, and Biden did too with stops at Sanibel Island back when he was vice president.
The university’s alert warned everyone that traffic and parking could get pretty chaotic, and campus access wouldn’t be as easy as usual. To keep things manageable, FGCU plans to shift most operations to remote formats for the day, although the campus itself will stay open for business.
For information and reservations, click here.
