Trump had to cancel a July 4 weekend rally at an Alabama military memorial park after the venue backed out

• Trump canceled a planned rally in Mobile, Alabama, after the venue scrapped its permit.
• The USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park approved the event before knowing Trump would come.
• They said that Trump being there would breach venue rules that events must be non-partisan.

Former President Donald Trump scrapped plans to hold a July 4 weekend rally in a Mobile, Alabama, after being denied a permit for the venue.

It came after local officials worried that the event could be hijacked for partisan political reasons.

Trump had been billed as the keynote speaker at Saturday's Republican Party event at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.

But, in a letter first obtained by NBC 15 News, park officials said they would not let the event to go ahead.

They said the decision came after they learned that it would not simply be a patriotic Independence Day themed event without strong political affiliation.

"After the request was made, then there was contact with the Republican Party, they contacted us and then it became apparent that it was going to be a partisan political event, rather than just a patriotic event planned for that evening," wrote park commission chairman Bill Tunnell in the letter.

The park houses the USS Alabama, a warship which took part in naval operations during the Second World War. Park authorities have banned political events being staged at the venue since 2012 when former GOP senator Rick Santorum held a rally there.

In a statement to NBC 15 News, the Alabama GOP said that Trump had been looking forward to speaking at the event and was disappointed it was not going forward.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall told Al.com that he park officials sought his opinion, and that he told them to be wary of restricting free speech based on the "identity of the speaker."

Trump has stirred rumors of a bid to return to power since leaving the White House in January.

Though banned from social media platforms for his alleged incitement of the January 6 Capitol riot, he has continued to baselessly claim by other means that last year's election was stolen from him as a result of mass fraud.

On Saturday he appeared at his first rally since leaving office, where he railed against critics and opponents in familiar style.