WILMINGTON, Ohio — Donald Trump kept it short as he campaigned through Ohio Thursday morning, weaving his theme of America First throughout remarks.
The Republican nominee, who usually clocks in around an hour for his speeches, stayed on teleprompter during an address at the American Legion National Conference and afterwards a rally for supporters. Thursday, speaking for just 17 minutes at and 23 minutes, respectively, at the events.
The shortened speeches come one day after a hectic day of travel for Trump, where he visited Mexico City for a meeting with President Peña Nieto. Despite Peña Nieto declaring after the meeting that the country would not, in fact, pay for Trump’s infamous wall along the Southern border, Trump insisted once again on Thursday that the wall would be built and Mexico would pay for it. And the crowd was eager and happy to hear it.
"Don't worry, we're gonna build that wall. That wall will go up. It's going to go up,” Trump assured to cheers from supporters. "We're gonna build the wall. Mexico's gonna pay for the wall. We're gonna stop drugs from coming in.”
Trump outlined his immigration proposals, calling his hard-line plan outlined Wednesday night a “bold new immigration reform” that will “create prosperity and opportunity for all of our people, especially those who have the least.” According to Trump, his policy “will treat everyone with dignity respect and compassion but our greatest compassion will be for the American citizen.” Once again, America First remained central to Trump’s priorities.
In both remarks, Trump hammered his message about jobs, trade, and Hillary Clinton’s “pay for play” corruption, and waxed optimistic about his chances in the battleground state, despite polls showing him trailing Hillary Clinton in the Buckeye State.
