Overview
- The White House schedule shows Air Force One will land at Ellington Field before the president attends a closed “RNC Engagement” at 6 p.m. in Houston, with the event’s location not publicly released.
- Local reporting says the evening gathering is an RNC fundraiser with previously reported ticket tiers ranging from about $10,000 to nearly $500,000 and is intended to raise money ahead of November midterm races in Texas.
- Drivers should expect temporary road closures and traffic holds around Ellington Field and NASA’s Johnson Space Center during the visit, with further security measures possible as officials finalize routes.
- On Friday at 10 a.m. the president will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at Johnson Space Center to NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
- The award follows the Artemis II mission that returned April 10 after a 10-day lunar-orbit flight, and federal law lets the president grant the medal based on the NASA administrator’s recommendation, with NASA leadership reported to join the ceremony.