Trump visits Dallas Sunday to attend First Baptist Church, make arena appearance with

Former President Donald Trump is spending the Sunday before Christmas in Dallas, appearing at American Airlines Center with former Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly and attending services at First Baptist Church Dallas.

Trump has been on “The History Tour” with O’Reilly in Sunrise and Orlando, Fla., earlier this month and in Houston at the Toyota Center Saturday night. The Dallas event is set for 3 p.m. at the American Airlines Center. Ticketmaster listed only a few dozen seats available Saturday, priced at $106 and $206.

“These will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where we’ll talk about the real problems happening in the U.S.,” Trump said in a statement promoting the tour.

He promised provocative talk, saying, “I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we don’t make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country!”

Trump appeared in Houston Saturday at the Toyota Center. The Houston Chronicle reported that Trump was nearly an hour and a half late and blamed thunderstorms for a delay in landing his plane.

At the Houston event, Trump said that said he had recommended a day before the Jan. 6 riot that 10,000 troops be deployed at the Capitol, and said if he had t to do over again, he would have done more. But Trump didn’t apologize for the rally and praised Ashli Bobbitt, the Air Force veteran who was shot and killed by Capitol Police.

Before the American Airlines event, Trump will attend the 11 a.m. Christmas service at First Baptist Church. Security lines to get into the church for his appearance were already two blocks long at 9:45 a.m.

As the crowd waiting to get into First Baptist snaked along sidewalks in downtown Dallas, a lone protester walked through the crowd, telling those gathered that Trump was “worse than Nebuchadnezzar, a Biblical figure known for destroying Jerusalem.

“I am very upset that this church is welcoming one to me who is worse than Nebuchadnezzar,” said Ruth Torres. “I’m too upset that this fool is here.

Torres walked up and down the line with a sign that a Bible verse from Isaiah chapter 1 written on it.

“You are going inside a super spreader event, brothers and sisters,” Torres told the crowd at one point. “Are you all vaccinated?”

A chorus of voices shouted “No!” in response.

Church security asked Dallas police officers to cite Torres for trespassing despite her being on a public sidewalk in front of the church. Officers encouraged her to keep moving and not cause any issues.

First Baptist Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress was one of Trump’s earliest and most vocal backers among evangelical Christian leaders during the 2016 campaign. He became one of Trump’s most prominent Christian advisers and boosters and was a frequent visitor to the White House during his presidency.

However, Jeffress said that he’ll steer clear of politics on Sunday.

“My message will have absolutely nothing to do with politics. It’s all about Christmas. … Everyone is welcome to attend this Sunday — Republican, Democrat, independent,” Jeffress said. “This isn’t a political event. … The music as well as my message focuses on the most important event in human history, the birth of Jesus Christ.”

The auditorium where Trump will attend the 11 a.m. Sunday service seats 3,000. Entry is first come first served, with security lines opening two hours earlier.

There’s room for 1,600 more to watch on livestream, plus assorted overflow space. In all, about 6,000 people will be on campus with Trump, Jeffress predicted.

A choir of 250 to 300 singers, plus orchestra, will present Christmas music.

The church encourages face coverings for anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 but “the vast majority of our people have been vaccinated,” Jeffress said, and of course, “We don’t have deacons wrestling people if they don’t have masks on.”

It’s Trump’s first time worshiping in person at First Baptist. Last year, he attended the Easter service virtually during the height of the pandemic.

Trump is likely to see friendly crowds at both events. He won Texas by 5.6 percentage points over President Joe Biden in 2020, but is still pushing for a major audit of the vote.

Washington Bureau Chief Todd J. Gillman and Assistant Politics Editor John Gravois contributed to this report.