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Navajo Leaders Want To Meet With Trump, Clinton Ahead Of Election

Navajo Nation leaders are firming up plans to meet with Donald Trump when he visits Arizona on Saturday. Campaign officials told the tribe that the Republican presidential candidate is open to meeting with Navajo lawmakers.

Trump recently angered Native American groups when he called Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas.” He has previously said the Washington football team should not change its name, even though it offends Native Americans.

The Navajo Council has also invited Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to meet with tribal leaders.

A Navajo council spokesman says they’d like to hear the candidates’ take on economic development and the coal industry. The tribe relies heavily on coal for revenue but environmentalists have pressured it to switch to renewable energy. About half of the Navajo workforce is unemployed.

The Navajo Nation has not endorsed any candidate. Trump and Clinton campaigns did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Democrat Bernie Sanders visited the Navajo Nation in March before the Arizona presidential preference election.

Laurel Morales was a Fronteras Desk senior field correspondent in Flagstaff from 2011 to 2020.