Update, 9:25 a.m.: For the safety of President Biden, authorities have not disclosed the route he will take to Park City, nor when he will arrive. Biden is expected to arrive via motorcade.
Utah Highway Patrol says "there will be intermittent closures around the valley," and the Summit County Sheriff's department says any delays shouldn't exceed 10-15 minutes. Park City Municipal says Biden is not expected in the 84060 zip code.
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The minimum price for a ticket to see President Joe Biden Thursday is $3,300.
According to the invitation, attendees who spend $10,000 or more will get a photo with the president. For $50,000, they can talk to him.
The maximum ticket price is $100,000, although donors can spend more if they’d like to. The campaign had $77 million in the bank in July, $72 million of which was raised during the second quarter this year.
The local Democratic leaders KPCW contacted said they won’t be attending and they don’t know much, except that security will be tight.
Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis told KUTV the event will be at a private home. The exact location is known only to those who RSVP.
Two local couples are sponsoring the event, including Kristi and John Cumming, the founder of POWDR, which owns Woodward, Snowbird and formerly Park City Mountain Resort. The other sponsors are Nancy and Mark Gilbert, the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during the Obama administration.
Former first lady Michelle Obama attended a 2011 fundraiser at the Gilbert’s home in The Colony. Mark Gilbert was the Democratic National Committee’s deputy national finance chair at that time.
Thursday’s fundraiser comes after FBI agents shot and killed a Provo man Wednesday morning while serving a warrant, hours before Biden was scheduled to land in Utah. The suspect, Craig Deleeuw Robertson, had threatened the president on Facebook Monday, saying he would “clean the dust off the m24 sniper rifle.”
An organizer for the fundraiser said they were confident it would be secure and declined to comment further.
The president’s visit is part of a wider tour of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Biden has spoken on, among other things, the urgent threat of climate change.
On Tuesday, he christened a new national monument adjoining the Grand Canyon just south of the Utah border. Utah Republicans criticized the move, including Gov. Spencer Cox, who called it “frustrating news.”
Cox said creating the monument will drive tourism without creating necessary infrastructure and interfere with mineral extraction. However, Arizona conservationists and local tribal leaders have expressed their support for increased protections.
Biden has also touted the bipartisan 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bill awarded Summit County $25 million to improve bus rapid transit on state Route 224, which includes adding dedicated bus lanes.
According to Politico, he is expected to announce a request for billions more in aid to Ukraine Thursday, as well as money for Taiwan and disaster relief.
Before coming to Park City, Biden will speak at the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City Thursday morning. His speech will mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, a bill expanding care for veterans exposed to toxic substances.
