Trump to address VFW national convention next week in Kansas City

photo by: AP Photo/Chris Jackson

In this AP photo from July 3, 2018, President Donald Trump gestures to the audience during his remarks at a Salute to Service charity dinner in conjunction with the PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

President Donald Trump will visit Kansas City, Mo., next week to address the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention.

The event, which runs Saturday through Wednesday at the Kansas City Convention Center, is expected to draw thousands of VFW members to the area. Trump’s speech, on Tuesday, will mark his first address as president to the VFW convention.

It’s not known how many Lawrence VFW members plan to attend.

A spokeswoman for the VFW’s national headquarters, in Kansas City, Mo., said VFW membership is “generally always happy to hear from the president.”

“The VFW has a long-standing tradition of inviting the sitting president to the national convention every year, simply because we feel our members deserve to hear from the standing commander of the military,” said Randi Law, VFW’s manager of communications and public affairs.

The last time Trump addressed a VFW national convention was in 2016 as a candidate for president. At that year’s gathering in Charlotte, N.C., Trump promised to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs, which he said would include the creation of a 24-hour White House hotline run by and for veterans, and improving veterans’ access to health care.

“He made some promises to our delegates at the time, and I think our members are looking forward to hearing an update on them,” Law said.

The Journal-World on Friday was unable to reach the commander of Lawrence’s VFW post 852 for comment on the convention and the president’s impending visit.

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