Live updates: President Trump campaigns in Kalispell

Live updates from President Donald Trump's campaign stop in Kalispell on Wednesday.

6:06 p.m.: Dozens of protesters lined the southbound on-ramp from Church Drive onto U.S. 93 waiting for Trump’s arrival on Wednesday afternoon. People wielded signs calling for Trump’s impeachment, waved American flags and held up black and white letters that spelled out “Power to the People”.

Some attendees heckled motorists as they inched their way toward the parking area at the Majestic Valley Arena.

“Deport all illegal aliens,” one person yelled back from the passenger seat of a sedan.

Bob Beausol flew in from Portland to protest Trump’s ties to disgraced financer and registered sex offender Jeffery Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019. The 67-year-old graduated from Whitefish High School and said he was sexually assaulted in 1975.

“The Epstein Files? That’s the real deal. Listen to those girls. Why are we not outraged against this?” he told the Inter Lake.

Maddie Howard, 72, drove from Marion hoping to see the president in person, but was upset when she was turned away at the gate because of a sweatshirt that read, “You Missed Bitches,” and depicted Trump raising his middle finger — a reference to the 2024 assassination attempt against him.

Howard said she was excited to hear Trump was visiting so close to her home. She spent an hour in traffic and another hour standing in line before a security officer asked her to either take off her sweatshirt or turn it inside out. 

Howard refused.

"I stand up for my rights. I stand up for my president. Why should I take my shirt off and turn it inside out? I’m not hurting anybody” Howard said while standing outside the parking lot in front of The Guild Fitness Club.

5:53 p.m.: Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte took to stage to praise Trump's policies since returning to the White House in January 2025. 

The president's accomplishments including closing the southern border, delivering tax cuts and unleashing "American-made energy by embracing an all of the above strategy including beautiful, clean Montana coal," Gianforte said. 

The governor said that Trump and other Republicans are protecting Americans and their families by backing law enforcement "and keeping men out of womens sports," a line that drew the loudest cheers of the night thus far.

Harkening back to Trump's inauguration, Gianforte reminded the audience that the president had pledged to open a new golden age for America. 

"He put America first," Gianforte said. 

5:41 p.m.: Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing has taken the stage, telling the audience that he has spoken to Trump. 

"He is en route," Downing said. "He's really excited to be here."

Downing also praised the atmosphere in the building, which has filled considerably since the doors opened. 

"The energy in this room is incredible," he said. "We're not tired of winning."

Downing, a U.S. Air Force veteran, described the upcoming election in military terms. 

"President Trump needs reinforcements," he told the crowd. "We will not allow the Bolsheviks to take over congress."

5:34 p.m.: Kalispell business owner Kisa Davison led the arena in the Pledge of Allegiance, pumping her hand into the air when she arrived at the line "under God." 

Davison launched a failed campaign for mayor of Kalispell last year, losing out to Ryan Hunter. 

5:28 p.m. The rally is opening with an invocation. 

5:27 p.m.: Rep. Ryan Zinke said he can still recall watching President Richard Nixon at Glacier Park International Airport in 1971. In his memory, the visit was short. 

"He barely made it down the stairs and said hello," Zinke said. "I bet Trump speaks for a while."

At a recent rally in San Antonio, Trump spoke for about one hour and 45 minutes. His comments at a rally scheduled in Arizona earlier today ran so long that the president was late to get on Air Force One and begin the journey to Northwest Montana.

As of 5 p.m., no speakers had taken the podium. The event was scheduled to kick off at 4:45 p.m.

Zinke hinted that he had been planning on a late night, even before the delay in the president's arrival. Asked if he planned to visit the Bulldog in Whitefish after the rally, Zinke said, "Damn straight."

"Probably the Great Northern, too," he added. 

4:54 p.m.: Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino is seated in the bleachers. Heino, a Republican, is running for a third term in office this November. 

4:38 p.m.: The crowd erupts into sporadic cheers as Aaron Flint makes his way through the audience seated on the arena floor, greeting people as he goes. The venue is filling in but there are still plenty of seats in the bleachers and on the floor. 

4:21 p.m.: Today's rally is all about authenticity, said Aaron Flint, the Republican candidate for Montana's western congressional district.

"Personally, it's just so incredible to be here with my family and to have the President of the United States come to the Flathead Valley of Montana," Flint said during a short stop to the press pit ahead of the rally's kickoff.

Kalispell may lag behind Missoula and Bozeman in terms of sheer numbers, but the Flathead Valley has long been a stronghold for the GOP. About 65% of the Flathead County vote went to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Voter turnout tends to lag in non-presidential elections, leaving much more room for error in the 2026 race. 

Flint himself referred to the race as a battleground between himself and Democrat Sam Forstag. He hopes today's presidential visit will spur the valley's Republican base to the polls in November.

"You have to think of the vote here," Flint said. "Flathead County, Montana can save America. Flathead County, Montana can save Montana."

4:13 p.m.: Former Republican state Rep. Steve Gunderson of Libby said that Wednesday's rally is his fourth Trump rally. But seeing the president so close to home is an unexpected turn of events, he said. 

"It's pretty impressive to have it in Kalispell, right in our backyard," said Gunderson, who is running for the state Senate District 1 seat in the November election.

He said that quite a few of his fellow Republicans have made the trek from Lincoln County, a convoy that includes Sheriff Darren Short. 

"It's legislators, Republican club members, John Q Citizen and Jane Q Citizen -- a real diverse group," he said. 

He also approved of the venue. 

"I love it," he said of the Majestic Valley Arena. "This is one of the last places I really thought of ... but it makes a lot of sense."

Asked for his thoughts on the GOP's fortunes in the midterm elections, Gunderson said to check back with him on Nov. 4. 

4 p.m.: Republican candidate Aaron Flint came over to talk with the media for a bit. He's the reason Trump is in town, with the U.S. House race against Democrat Sam Forstag considered a toss-up.

2:55 p.m.: Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, R-Kalispell, is manning the media check-in booth. Other local Republican politicians are expected to be in attendance as well. Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short is by the entrance in dress uniform.

2:45 p.m.: Took over an hour to make it from Kalispell into the parking area at Majestic Valley Arena. Long lines already.

2 p.m.: Traffic is backed up in the right-hand lane of U.S. 93. Cars waiting about 40 minutes to get to the venue at Majestic Valley Arena north of Kalispell. Lots of Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies around.