Former President Donald Trump said he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio — the city of which he has spread lies about migrants eating residents’ pets — despite local officials saying the town already has an intense strain on its resources.

Trump told a rally in New York on Wednesday that he plans to visit Springfield sometime in the next two weeks, describing the city as an emblem of immigration “destroying” the country. He has repeatedly shared lies about an influx of Haitian migrants there eating neighbors’ cats and dogs, a racist smear first shared on the campaign trail by his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

“They had 32,000, this is a little beautiful town, no crime, no problem, 32,000 illegal immigrants come into the town,” Trump told his supporters. “So they almost double their population in a period of a few weeks, can you believe it?”

“You know what, they’ve gotta get much tougher, I’m gonna go there in the next two weeks,” he declared. “You may never see me again but that’s OK. I gotta do what I gotta do.”

Springfield has an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian migrants, many of whom came to the U.S. legally under a provision known as Temporary Protected Status. The program allows foreign nationals from some countries facing serious disasters or political turmoil to remain in the U.S. The Biden administration extended TPS status for Haitians in June until at least Feb. 3, 2026.

Vance also doubled down on his own rhetoric at a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, falsely accusing legal migrants in Springfield of being “illegal aliens.”

The mayor of the city, Rob Rue, has acknowledged the surge in population has put a strain on local resources, but he has rejected all claims that pets have been in danger in the town.

Rue said earlier this week he would be “fine” if Trump decided not to visit the region, saying the furor over the claims has already placed an extreme burden on Springfield’s resources.

“Springfield is a community that needs help,” Rue told The Washington Post last week. He added at the time that political leaders should not “hurt a community like, unfortunately, we have seen over the last couple of days.”

The town has been subject to more than 30 bomb threats since the rumors began to spread, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) recently ordered state troopers to the area who will be stationed at local schools.