Trump Wasn’t Going to Stay in Milwaukee. Then Reporters Asked.

When Republicans gather in Milwaukee next month to nominate him for president, Donald J. Trump planned to stay not in the convention’s host city but at a Trump hotel in Chicago, some 90 miles away, according to three people briefed on the former president’s logistics.

That changed midafternoon on Tuesday, after reporters for The New York Times and an ABC station in Chicago contacted his campaign for comment.

Mr. Trump now intends to stay in Milwaukee, two of the people briefed on his logistics said. The change avoids a perceived slight to the largest city in Wisconsin, a vital battleground state.

Mr. Trump has been on the defensive about his views on Milwaukee since news outlets reported last week that he had called it a “horrible” city in a private meeting with House Republicans in Washington.

He opened his rally on Tuesday afternoon in Racine by proclaiming his love for Milwaukee, about 30 miles away, which he claimed he selected as the host of the convention. And he repeated his contention that he had only criticized the city over crime and his false claims of voter fraud there in 2020.

“I love Milwaukee. I said we’ve got to fix the crime, we all know that,” Mr. Trump told thousands of people gathered to hear him speak. “You’ve got to make sure the election’s honest.”