The Brief: Donald Trump Comes to Texas

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee kicks off a two-day tour of Texas full of fundraisers and rallies with protesters at the ready for his arrival.

By Madeline Conway and John Reynolds

June 16, 20165 AM Central

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The Big Conversation

The Republican Party far from united behind him, Donald Trump comes to Texas today, with plans to hold two rallies and three fundraisers over two days in the Lone Star State.

The presumptive Republican nominee for president will start the trip in Dallas and also spend time in San Antonio, Houston and The Woodlands, a suburb, today and tomorrow. As the Tribune's Patrick Svitek reports, the primary goal of the trip is fundraising, with Mica Mosbacher, a former Ted Cruz fundraiser now involved with Trump's Texas events, saying she is “very hopeful that we'll raise at least $3 or $4 million.”

Trump's rallies have attracted loud protests across the country, and police officers in San Antonio are preparing for conflict to arise when the GOP standard-bearer campaigns there Friday, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

State Democrats, meanwhile, hope to capitalize on anti-Trump sentiment to excite their supporters at their state convention, which begins today in San Antonio. As the Tribune's Khorri Atkinson reports, “comments from state Democrats over the past few weeks indicate the party will use its annual convention to link the divisive real estate mogul to the Texas GOP and emphasize some of his more controversial remarks to galvanize supporters against Republicans in state and local elections.”

U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, the Democrat from Brownsville who recently told Trump to “take your border wall and shove it up your ass,” is scheduled to speak.

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The Day Ahead

• The House Committee on Economic and Small Business Development meets at 10 a.m. in the Capitol Extension to hear testimony on how the state can support growth of the shared economy, its impact on traditional businesses and how to define it. It will also hear testimony on how to conduct oversight of items passed by the 84th Legislature.

• The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in the Senate Chamber to consider interim charges to study and make recommendations on making partnerships between state-owned mental health hospitals and university health science centers; study recent legislative efforts to divert people with serious mental illness from criminal justice settings; and study and make recommendations on tele-monitoring and telemedicine services.