LONDONDERRY, N.H. — President Donald Trump was set to be speaking at a rally in Manchester, N.H. this Friday, but it will now be in Londonderry, N.H.
According to the event posting, Trump will deliver remarks live from Pro Star Aviation in Londonderry. The new hangar location is just across the Manchester town line near the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, where the rally was originally planned for at the PeriCohas Hangar. Doors open at 3 p.m., and the event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health has leased the PeriCohas hangar at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport since 2009. The hangar houses its DHART air ambulance.
Rick Adams, a spokesperson for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, tells NEWS CENTER Maine over the past several days the hospital and the Trump campaign have had conversations about temporarily moving DHART out of the hangar to accommodate the president's event.
Adams said they were willing to move the helicopter temporarily for the event if the campaign covered the cost.
"As a not-for-profit organization, D-H is prohibited from making any in-kind contributions to political campaigns, and so we would have had to have been reimbursed for the costs of the relocation," Adams explained.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Adams said they were notified of the change to an adjacent hangar, and there was no impact to DHART's operations at the airport.
RELATED: NH Trump rally moved to Londonderry
While there is no statewide mask mandate in New Hampshire, on Aug. 11 Gov. Chris Sununu signed an Executive Order requiring face coverings for certain scheduled gatherings of 100 or more individuals. In accordance with this order, the Trump campaign says masks will be required at the event, which they will provide to all attendees.
Ahead of the event, New Hampshire GOP Chairman Stephen Stepanek said, “The President is always welcome in New Hampshire, a state he is clearly committed to winning, unlike Joe Biden. Our grassroots army is working hard day in and day out to ensure that we deliver the Granite State this November.”
Trump was set to hold a rally in Portsmouth, N.H. earlier this summer, but postponed the event “for safety reasons” amid Tropical Storm Fay. The campaign had said the rally would be rescheduled.
The event comes just days after Republicans formally nominated Trump at the Republican National Convention. Trump will formally accept the nomination Thursday night on the last night of the convention.
“This is the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said in his speech Monday. “Our country can go in a horrible direction or in an even greater direction.”
In response to the event announcement, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said Trump’s visit to N.H., “will shine a spotlight on Chris Sununu’s blind loyalty to Donald Trump at Granite Staters’ expense.”
RELATED: There’s no mask mandate in NH, but some Portsmouth city officials want one ahead of Trump rally
The rally in Portsmouth that was canceled sparked controversy among locals and officials over worries of COVID-19 spread. Ahead of the rally, some city officials pushed for a statewide mask mandate over concerns of the potential spread of COVID-19.
“Personal politics are outside the scope of this,” Portsmouth City Councilor Deaglan McEachern said in July ahead of the Portsmouth rally. “It’s a health concern.”
Their calls weren’t answered, however, and Gov. Sununu reaffirmed there would not be a mask mandate issued. Sununu and the Trump campaign maintained that they expected people in attendance would wear masks.
To register online to attend the event in Manchester, people have to sign a waiver saying they “expressly acknowledge that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists.”
“By registering for this event, you understand and expressly acknowledge that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. In attending the event, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19, and waive, release, and discharge Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; Peri Cohas Hangar; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers from any and all liability under any theory, whether in negligence or otherwise, for any illness or injury,” the waiver says.
As of Monday, 429 people have died with COVID-19 in N.H. and 7,134 people have tested positive.
Gov. Sununu's office did not immediately respond for comment.
