Donald Trump has spoken from behind bulletproof glass at his first outdoor rally since last month’s attempted assassination.
During an event in North Carolina focused on national security, he blamed President Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris for the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, while returning repeatedly in his remarks to the Democratic gathering in Chicago, where speakers have condemned Mr Trump as a threat to the country should he return to the White House.
The former president, now the Republican nominee, asked the crowd at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame whether they had seen the speeches given on Tuesday by former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
“He was taking shots at your president. And so was Michelle. You know, they always say, ‘Sir, please stick to policy. Don’t get personal’. And yet they’re getting personal all night long, these people,” he said, asking: “Do I still have to stick to policy?”
Mr Trump, who is facing Ms Harris in the November election after Mr Biden stepped aside, spoke from behind a podium surrounded by panes of bulletproof glass which formed a protective wall across the stage — part of ramped-up security measures aimed at keeping him safe after the attack by a gunman in Pennsylvania on July 13.
Storage containers were stacked around the perimeter to create additional walls and block sight lines. Snipers were positioned on roofs at the venue, where old aircraft were sitting behind the podium and a large American flag was suspended from cranes.
The event was part of Mr Trump’s week-long series of counter-programming to the Democratic National Convention, which is under way in Chicago. Allies have been urging him to focus on policy instead of personal attacks against Ms Harris as he struggles to adjust to Mr Biden’s departure from the race.
The second night of the Democrats’ convention on Tuesday was a highly energised affair that featured speeches from both Obamas, who went after Mr Trump in biting terms.
“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be black,” Mrs Obama said.
Mr Obama mocked Mr Trump’s obsession with his crowd sizes and called him “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”.
“It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” the former president said.
After mentioning the Obamas early in his speech, Mr Trump came back to the former president’s comments.
“He was very nasty last night,” he said. “I try and be nice to people, you know. But it’s a little tough when they get personal.”
He then asked the crowd whether he should listen to advisers who he said have told him: “Please, sir, don’t get personal. Talk about policy.”
“Should I get personal or should I not get personal?” he asked. The crowd overwhelmingly chose the former.
Mr Trump described Ms Harris as “the most radical left person ever to run for high political office in our country”, and said the woman he now calls Comrade Kamala will destroy the country if she is elected to the White House.
While he has acknowledged the race is closer than before Mr Biden dropped out, his aides believe Ms Harris remains relatively unknown and efforts to highlight her past statements and the positions she took in previous races will turn off swing voters after her honeymoon period ends.
Mr Trump repeatedly referenced the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and said that, if he wins, he will ask for the resignation of every senior military official who was involved.
He pledged to get “critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our US armed forces”. During his administration, he instituted a Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from serving in the military, which Mr Biden reversed.
“Our warriors should be focused on defeating America’s enemies, not figuring out their genders,” he said.
“If you want to have a sex change or a social justice seminar, then you can do it somewhere else, but you’re not going to do it in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Space Force or the United States Marines.”
He also pledged major investment in the armed forces and said he would launch the largest peacetime recruitment drive in the nation’s history.
“We’re going to make it so hot that I’m going to want to resign and join the military,” said Mr Trump, who received a series of deferments, including one attained with a physician’s letter saying he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.
He was joined on Wednesday by his running mate JD Vance, who cast Ms Harris as a candidate selected by power brokers instead of voters and condemned her vice presidential pick, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, before Mr Trump took the stage.
He accused Mr Walz of mischaracterising his service record as an Army National Guard member, as well as criticising him for retiring from service before his unit’s deployment to Iraq.
“What won’t Stolen Valour Tim Walz lie about?” Mr Vance, who served four years as a marine, asked the crowd.
