Former President Donald Trump is headed to Newport Beach’s Harbor Island on Saturday, June 8 — and that means road closures and expected traffic delays for residents of the Bayside Harbor Island communities.
Bayside Drive, from Jamboree Road to Pacific Coast Highway, will be closed to motorists from 7 a.m. to around 3 p.m. on Saturday, according to the city’s plans. Local residents will be able to access the road, but only with proof of an address, like a photo ID or passport.
There will be no parking along the entirety of Harbor Island Road; residents will need to find other parking until about 3 p.m., the city said.
Beacon Bay, Habor Island, Promontory Bay and Promontory Point residents will be able to access their houses during Trump’s event through Pacific Coast Highway and Bayside Drive. Access to Linda Isle’s gated community will also be limited to those two roads.
Residents who are expecting guests on Saturday should accompany them into the community, the city said, because those without proof of residency will be turned away.
These traffic plans are subject to change, noted Sgt. Steven Oberon, a spokesperson for the Newport Beach Police Department.
The Bayside Shopping Center is scheduled to remain open for now — but could still be impacted by the event, according to the city.
“Please be flexible as this will be a dynamic situation,” said the city’s notice to residents.
Trump is in town as part of a fundraising swing following his felony conviction last week. Tickets for the Newport Beach event, hosted by entrepreneur Palmer Luckey and John and Kimberly Word, range from $3,300 to attend the luncheon to $100,000.
It is not known exactly how Trump plans to traverse from Los Angeles County down to Orange County and arrive in Newport Beach.
Trump’s visit to Newport Beach’s Lido Isle in 2020 for a fundraiser — also hosted by Luckey — caused traffic headaches, especially for those who were coming in from out of town. Newport Beach residents and employees of nearby docks and restaurants were alerted to Trump’s visit and traffic impacts the day prior to the visit, but non-residents did not get such a heads up, the Southern California News Group reported at the time.
The former president, in the midst of his third bid for the White House, was in San Francisco on Thursday evening and will stop in Beverly Hills on Friday night to shore up his campaign coffers. It’s his first major fundraising swing since he was found guilty of 34 felonies in New York last week, and his first stop in San Francisco in more than 10 years, according to Politico.
Since the conviction, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have said they’ve seen an influx of donations. Earlier this week, the campaign and RNC said they hauled in $141 million in May, attributing the support as a response to the verdict in Trump’s hush money trial. Other pro-Trump organizations brought in an additional $150 million in May, they said.
Supporters who aren’t attending the high-dollar fundraisers plan to line the streets in both Newport Beach and Beverly Hills to welcome the former president.
No major road closures are expected in Beverly Hills on Friday. Rolling closures are expected to shut down intersections briefly while Trump’s motorcade passes through, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.