Air Force One delivered President Barack Obama to Peterson Air Force Base at 7:12 p.m. Wednesday night, bringing the president to Colorado Springs hours before he speaks to the Air Force Academy’s 2016 graduating class.

The president stayed the night at The DoubleTree hotel, a mid-range priced hotel in southern Colorado Springs near The Broadmoor World Arena.

Secret Service agents searched cars Wednesday evening before guests could enter the hotel. The president’s motorcade arrived in the late evening and Obama turned in for the night.

Obama was greeted on the tarmac by Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, Lt. Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the deputy director of U.S. Northern Command, and Col. Douglass Schiess, commander of the 21st Space Wing. All three are based out of Peterson.

Obama then walked over to a large group gathered to watch Air Force One land. He shook hands and held a baby before getting in the motorcade.

A few people lined the street, holding American flags, along the route from Peterson Air Force Base to the hotel. The motorcade blocked traffic on Interstate 25.

It’s a tradition for the president to give the graduation address at the Air Force Academy every four years. Obama was here in 2012 to speak to cadets. His message on Thursday will be streamed live on gazettedev.gazette.com.

Obama, in the final months of his two-term presidency, was in Elkhart, Ind., Wednesday, giving what looked and sounded a lot like a stump speech on the economy. He hammered Republican presidential favorite Donald Trump and other Republicans during the speech.

“The primary story that Republicans have been telling about the economy is just not supported by the facts,” Obama said. “They repeat it a lot, but it is not supported by the facts. . It has worked to get them votes.”

Elkhart is significant for the president because it’s the first city he visited outside of Washington after taking office in 2009. He said he was struck by the economic struggles of the city that was in the midst of the recession, and tried to paint a picture Wednesday of a recovered economy and a fiscally constrained federal government, or at least one that had improved.

“I’m just being blunt with you,” Obama told a crowd in a high school gymnasium. “By telling hard-working middle class Americans that the reason they are getting squeezed is because of some moochers at the bottom or . because of poor folks who aren’t willing to work, they’ve been able to promote policies that protect powerful special interests and those who are at the very top of the economic pyramid.”

Obama flew from Chicago to Colorado Springs.

His address Thursday will likely focus on foreign policy, especially the increasing threat of ISIL in the Middle East and the aggressiveness of China and Russia in the South China Sea.

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Contact Megan Schrader: 286-0644

Twitter @CapitolSchrader

Air Force One delivered President Barack Obama to Peterson Air Force Base Wednesday night, June 1, 2016, ahead of his commencement speech at the Air Force Academy graduation. (Photo courtesy: Frank Manno)

President Barack Obama speaks during Air Force Academy graduation Wednesday, May 23, 2012, at Falcon Stadium. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

President Obama arrived in Colorado Springs Wednesday night, ahead of his Thursday morning commencement speech at the Air Force Academy graduation. (Photo by Ernestas Tyminas, The Gazette)

Air Force One delivered President Barack Obama to Peterson Air Force Base Wednesday night, June 1, 2016, ahead of his commencement speech at the Air Force Academy graduation. (Photo courtesy: Frank Manno)

Air Force One delivered President Barack Obama to Peterson Air Force Base Wednesday night, June 1, 2016, ahead of his commencement speech at the Air Force Academy graduation. (Photo courtesy: Frank Manno)

Air Force One delivered President Barack Obama to Peterson Air Force Base Wednesday night, June 1, 2016, ahead of his commencement speech at the Air Force Academy graduation. (Photo courtesy: Frank Manno)

President Obama arrived in Colorado Springs on Wednesday night ahead of Thursday’s Air Force Academy graduation. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)