MOBILE, Ala. — The Trump rally speaker lineup for President Donald Trump’s Friday visit to Mobile is coming into focus, with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville set to introduce the president and a slate of Alabama Republicans on the November ballot expected to take the stage before him at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center.
Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, said Tuesday that he will introduce Trump on Oct. 2. U.S. Sen. Katie Britt has confirmed she will attend and speak. U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, is scheduled to speak, as is state Rep. Rhett Marques, the Republican nominee in Alabama’s contested 2nd Congressional District. Former U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, who is running to reclaim the 1st Congressional District seat that includes Mobile, said he will be there as well.
“It will be a big day for Mobile, Baldwin [County], Mobile County and the state of Alabama,” Tuberville said.
Mobile County Republican leaders, meanwhile, say the phones have not stopped ringing since the visit was confirmed, and the local party is already looking past the rally to a second high-profile event: a free public meet-and-greet with Britt on Monday, Oct. 5.
Who is expected on stage
The Mobile rally is one of the first stops in a series of events the president is holding to boost Republican candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Based on statements from the candidates and their offices, the program is expected to include:
- U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee for governor, who said he will introduce the president.
- U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Montgomery, whose office confirmed she will attend and speak.
- U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, the Republican nominee for Alabama’s open U.S. Senate seat, who is scheduled to speak.
- State Rep. Rhett Marques, the Republican nominee in the 2nd Congressional District, who will also speak.
- Former U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, the Republican nominee in the 1st Congressional District, who said he will attend and expects to thank the president from the stage.
Organizers have not released a formal run of show, and additional speakers could still be added before Friday.
Tuberville said he does not believe the president is worried about Republican candidates’ prospects in Alabama. In his view, Trump is simply spending time in a state he carried. Trump won Alabama with nearly 65% of the vote in 2024.
Britt ‘thrilled’ to welcome the president back
Britt’s office said the senator is looking forward to the visit.
“The Senator is thrilled to welcome President Trump back to Alabama and will be joining him in Mobile,” her office said.
Britt, who was elected to the Senate in 2022 and is not on the ballot this year, had already signaled her enthusiasm on social media shortly after the rally was announced last week, writing that she was “looking forward to welcoming you back to Sweet Home Alabama.”
A return to where it started
For several of the speakers, Friday’s rally carries personal history. Trump packed Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile in August 2015 in one of the first major stops of his first presidential campaign, drawing a crowd estimated at about 30,000. Two Alabama politicians helped lift his national profile that night: Jeff Sessions, then a U.S. senator, who appeared with the candidate, and Barry Moore, then a state representative, who became one of the first elected officials in the country to endorse him.
Moore has since served several terms in Congress and is now the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat Tuberville is leaving to run for governor. He has highlighted his early support for Trump throughout the campaign and has proposed naming the new Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge in the president’s honor.
Trump returned to Ladd-Peebles Stadium in December 2016 for the final stop of his post-election “Thank You” tour, telling the crowd, “This is where it all began.”
This time the setting is considerably smaller. The Mitchell Center, the university’s basketball arena on Old Shell Road, holds about 10,000 people.
Carl: A chance to say thank you
Carl, who represented the 1st District from 2021 to 2025 and is seeking to return after the district’s lines were redrawn again this year, said he views his time on stage as a chance to express gratitude.
“Friday, I’ll get the opportunity to thank him in front of the crowd of what is looking likely to be a packed house,” Carl said.
“I’ll get a chance to thank him for what all he’s done of the state of Alabama — from financing the bridge project to helping us bring Space Force into Huntsville,” he added.
Carl won the Republican nomination in an Aug. 11 special primary with Trump’s endorsement. He faces Democratic nominee Clyde Jones Jr. of Daphne in the Nov. 3 general election.
The bridge on the same day
The rally is expected to share the calendar with a milestone for the region’s largest infrastructure project. Federal officials are expected to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project on Friday. The project, now budgeted at about $4.15 billion, is being financed in part by a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan of up to $2.52 billion, which is to be repaid with toll revenue once the new bridge opens, projected around 2031.
Alabama Republicans have credited the Trump administration with helping move the long-delayed project forward, and several of Friday’s speakers have pointed to it as an accomplishment they expect to mention. Details of the groundbreaking ceremony, including its time and location, were expected to be released by the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Mobile County GOP: ‘jet fuel’ for the ticket
Stuart Lang, interim chairman of the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee, said the local party had heard for some time that the president might come to South Alabama but did not receive official notice until last Thursday.
Lang said he expects the visit to energize Republican voters heading into November, whatever the president’s precise reasons for coming.
“I think the motivation [for Trump] is to do what he does best, which is put jet fuel into campaigns, into communities, into Republican politics,” Lang said. “He’s such a larger-than-life figure. It couldn’t hurt either way. The new I-10 bridge may be part of his reason to come down as well. He has a lot to hang his hat on. He started his campaign here in Mobile County for his initial presidential campaign back in 2016, and now he’s back 10 years later, hyping up everybody else who’s going to be on the Republican ticket in November.”
Some observers have questioned why the president would spend time in a state Republicans are heavily favored to carry, and recent polling has shown Trump’s standing in Alabama has slipped since 2024, though he remains more popular in the state than nationally. Lang dismissed suggestions that the president’s appeal has faded locally.
“People seem to count him out constantly, and then he consistently proves them wrong,” Lang said. “I’m not the National Party chairman, so I won’t speak for him, but I will speak for Mobile County … He’s not coming to Mobile out of some kind of charity to candidates. He’s coming to Mobile because this is a Republican hotbed and he will only energize campaigns.”
Lang said advance teams from Washington, including Secret Service personnel and White House staff, have begun arriving to plan the event. While national organizers are running the rally, he said the county party wants to help where it can, and he pointed residents to the Mobile County GOP’s Facebook page for links to volunteer or request tickets.
Lang, a prosecutor, was named interim chairman of the county executive committee earlier this month after the resignation of Chairman Ken Kvalheim. The committee is scheduled to elect a permanent chairman at its Oct. 5 meeting.
Lathan: ‘An incredible moment’
Terry Lathan, communications director for the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee and a former chair of the Alabama Republican Party, said she has been fielding calls and text messages from excited supporters since the announcement.
“Mobile is tracking to be very busy in the political world, but particularly the Republican Party world,” Lathan said.
She encouraged people to take advantage of the chance to see a sitting president in person.
“They are super excited for the opportunity to see and hear a sitting president,” Lathan said. “Most people do not ever get that chance and so if you have the opportunity, you should take it, especially if you have a family or children or young people. It’s an incredible moment to be in the room with a United States president. He has done more in the short time he’s been president this term than sitting presidents have their full terms in the past. He has delivered for the American people over and over. He’s not finished yet.”
Lathan, of Mobile, led the state Republican Party from 2015 to 2021, a period that included Trump’s first two visits to the city.
Next up: Britt at the county GOP meeting Monday
The weekend’s political activity will spill into next week. The Mobile County Republican Executive Committee will host Britt as the special guest at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 5, at Regency Church of Christ, 501 S. University Blvd. in Mobile. The event is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
Lathan said she had been working to schedule the senator for some time.
“We’re thrilled that the Mobile County Republican Party got the call that she will be with us Monday night,” Lathan said. “We expect a huge crowd and we want to roll out the red carpet for her. This is another free opportunity for citizens to come and meet the person of the name they see on a ballot or on a television commercial and that makes a difference. When you get to talk to them, share your story, shake their hand, look in their eyes, it’s the best way to connect and the Mobile Republican Party is honored to give our citizens and our fellow Republicans or people that are just interested that opportunity.”
Along with Britt, the party expects these guests:
- Former U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, the 1st Congressional District nominee
- Caroleene Dobson, the Republican nominee for secretary of state
- Corey Hill, the Republican nominee for agriculture commissioner
- State Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile
- Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch
- Other Republican candidates on the November ballot
The Oct. 5 meeting is also the one at which the county committee is scheduled to choose its next permanent chairman.
If you go: Britt meet-and-greet
- Date: Monday, Oct. 5, 2026
- Location: Regency Church of Christ, 501 S. University Blvd., Mobile
- Meet-and-greet: 5:45 to 6:15 p.m.
- Meeting and program: Begins at 6:15 p.m.
- Cost: Free and open to the public; refreshments served
What to know about Friday’s rally
The rally is hosted by Trump 47 Committee, Inc. The program is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the Mitchell Center on the University of South Alabama campus, 5950 Old Shell Road.
- Tickets: Free, but an online RSVP is required. Guests are limited to four tickets.
- Doors: The Trump 47 Committee listing gives 3:30 p.m.; other event details released last week listed 2 p.m. Ticketholders should confirm the time on their RSVP confirmation.
- Capacity: About 10,000.
- Security: The Secret Service is leading security planning with local, state and federal partners. Attendees should expect airport-style screening, arrive early and check the Secret Service’s list of prohibited items before leaving home.
Heavy traffic is expected around the university Friday afternoon and evening, and officials have urged people not attending the rally to avoid the area.
The races on the ballot
The rally comes about a month before Alabama’s Nov. 3 general election, in which every statewide constitutional office is on the ballot along with an open U.S. Senate seat and all seven congressional seats. Tuberville faces Democratic nominee and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in the governor’s race. In the 2nd Congressional District, Marques is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures of Mobile in one of the state’s most closely watched contests.
Democrats have said they are not worried about the president’s appearance. Mobile County Democratic Party Chair Ben Harris said last week that local Democrats would stay focused on their own candidates, led by Jones, and predicted the visit would remind voters of frustrations with fuel prices and the administration. Carl’s Democratic opponent, Clyde Jones Jr., has said he does not believe the president’s visit will help Republicans.
The voter registration deadline for the general election is Monday, Oct. 19. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.