GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) — In an effort to draw attention to comments made by President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump climbed into a campaign-themed garbage truck while visiting Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week.
“How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden,” Trump said from the passenger seat of the truck, which was adorned with a Trump campaign sticker and flag.
The campaign stunt and now-viral moment was pulled off largely due to the help of some local waste industry professionals.
That includes Dan Roddan of Suamico, located just north of Green Bay.
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Roddan told Nexstar’s WFRV it all started with an unusual text, asking if he could get a garbage truck to Trump’s rally.
“I was kind of scratching my head, wondering, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to do this, but we’ll definitely try,'” he recounted.
Roddan has established many contacts over his more than 20 years in the waste industry. He reached out to one of those contacts, Andrew Brisson, the vice president of Loadmaster in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Brisson fired up one of his garbage trucks and made the nearly two-hour trip down to Green Bay to meet up with Roddan. They then drove out to Green Bay’s Austin Straubel International Airport together, where they met the rest of the vehicles that were part of the former president’s motorcade.
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Roddan, Brisson, and members of Trump’s team decorated the garbage truck with Trump banners and several flags. Roddan shared photos of the moment, which you can see below.
Courtesy: Dan Roddan
Courtesy: Dan Roddan
Courtesy: Dan Roddan
Courtesy: Dan Roddan
Courtesy: Dan Roddan
Courtesy: Dan Roddan
“That was a surreal moment of ‘Wow, this is really happening,'” Roddan recounted. “And I’m just glad that I was able to help out.”
Trump arrived at the airport and climbed into the garbage truck, where he fielded questions from reporters from the passenger seat. Brisson was in the driver’s seat right next to Trump.
“How often does somebody get to meet a presidential candidate?” said Brisson. “So to just take that opportunity regardless of what candidate it is, you wouldn’t pass something up like that.”
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Brisson said Trump wanted him to take him for a ride in the truck.
“Started up the truck, blew the air horn, and then Trump looked over at me and said, can you take me for a ride in this thing,” Brisson recalled. “I released the parking brake, put it in drive and started driving forward. Like Trump said, we just got a few feet, and the Secret Service just glaring at me, waving their hands, telling us to knock it off.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Trump talks to reporters as he sits in a garbage truck, Oct. 30, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson, AP Photo)
Although he wasn’t in the truck, Roddan also met the Republican presidential candidate.
“It was so quick. He said something to the effect of, ‘Thanks for getting this done.’ I shook his hand, said, ‘No problem, Mr. President,’ and then he signed a $100 bill and handed it to me,” said Roddan.
Roddan also supplied the bright safety vest Trump was seen wearing in the truck and during the rally.
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“I had just texted one of his assistants asking if there was any way that I could get my vest back from President Trump, and he said I don’t think so right now. He’s wearing it on stage (at his rally), and I was like ‘What, really?'” said Roddan.
Both men said they were just trying to be helpful and would have helped regardless of which candidate had called them.
“[My team at Loadmaster is] building these things every day and are very proud of what they’re doing, so to see it in the national media, it’s a huge sense of pride,” said Brisson.
Brett Samuels of Nexstar’s The Hill contributed to this report.
