President Trump plans to visit Atlanta next week to announce a new initiative to speed up infrastructure projects, according to a White House official.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks at the UPS Hapeville Airport Hub highlighting his administration’s efforts to cut regulations. Trump will announce a new rule that the White House says will expedite the environmental review of the I-75 lane expansion in the state as well as other such projects across the country.
“This infrastructure project will allow the UPS Hub, which is a key distribution center in the region, to make their operations more efficient by reducing congestion of commercial freight movements in and out of the transportation hub,” a White House official said.
The news was first reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Thursday. Trump and Vice President Pence have each visited a number of battleground states that will be key to the incumbent president winning reelection come November.
Polls have shown Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to be in an increasingly tight race in Georgia, despite the state once being reliably red. A recent Fox News poll found Biden leading Trump 47 percent to 45 percent in the state.
Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Georgia by more than 5 percentage points in the 2016 presidential contest. The president has visited the state a total of nine times, his last trip being in early March when he traveled to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta.
Trump has also visited Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, and is expected to visit Florida on Friday for a briefing on drug trafficking at the U.S. Southern Command and a fundraiser.
Trump has continued official and campaign travel amid a spike in coronavirus cases in several states, including Florida and Georgia.