Trump visit to Baltimore called off, event relocated to White House

President Trump’s planned visit to Baltimore this week to discuss economic opportunity zones has been scrapped and will now take place at the White House, Rep. Elijah Cummings’s office said Monday.

The White House informed Cummings (D-Md.), who represents much of the city of Baltimore, that the venue for the Wednesday event had been changed, the congressman’s office said.

The Baltimore Sun first reported the change in plans.

{mosads}Rev. Donte Hickman of the city’s Southern Baptist Church, who invited the president to come to Baltimore, told the news outlet that White House officials said the visit had to be called off because of scheduling concerns following chief of staff John Kelly’s announced departure.

The Sun reported that Hickman had hoped Trump would come to Baltimore to drum up support for opportunity zones, which provide tax relief to investors who develop projects in low-income areas and spaces where economic recovery has been slower than the rest of the country.

The measure was included in the GOP tax-cut bill passed last year.

Hickman said the White House expressed interest in rescheduling after the new year.

Trump announced on Saturday that Kelly, who has been chief of staff since summer 2017, would depart the administration at the end of the year.

The announcement marked a bookend to an often acrimonious relationship between the two men, and spurred fervent speculation over who Trump will pick as Kelly’s replacement.