Donald Trump, three weeks after winning the presidency, kicked off his post-victory tour of the country on Thursday night with an "America first" message — but coupled with repeated calls for the country to come together to move his agenda forward.
"This is our window for action," Trump said from Cincinnati stage. "This is the hour of when great deeds can be done and our highest hopes can come true. We’re going to do it, folks."
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The several thousand, throughout his hour-long address, responded with same zeal that permeated Trump rallies across the country since his announcement to run in June 2015.
"I'm asking you to join me in this next chapter," Trump told the crowd.
Trump outlined a U.S.-centric message in his first major speech.
"There is no global anthem, no global currency, no certificate of global citizenship," he said. "We pledge allegiance to one flag, and that flag is the American flag. From now on, it’s going to be America first. OK? America first. We're going to put ourselves first.”
He told the thousands that "global is wonderful but, right now, we want to focus on our national community."
Unexpectedly, amid a series of cabinet selections made over the last week, Trump announced his selection of Gen. James Mattis as his nominee for the next Secretary of Defense.
Over the hour, Trump hit on nearly every major issue and theme that propelled his campaign, from trade disparity, illegal immigration and the Affordable Care Act. He told workers, "We are not going to forget you — believe me.”
But the President-elect, notably, attempted to strike a message of inclusiveness, and stated directly, "We condemn bigotry and prejudice in all of its forms."
And he called on Congress, including Democrats, to work together — a feat he will likely need to pull off in order pass significant reforms such as his idea for a trillion dollar infrastructure project.
"I said to Democrats, 'Look, we can’t go on with this gridlock,'" Trump told the crowd. "We’re going to get together."
He asserted that the country will "usher in a new industrial revolution," touting his Election Day victories through the Midwest and Rust Belt states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
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At that point, talking about trade and the outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing jobs, Trump broke free from his self-described "action plan to make America great again," and began what turned into a seven-minute monologue on his viewing of the election night returns.
He scoffed, talking about the Rust Belt and Midwest states, at the suggestions that his campaign wouldn’t be able to "break the blue wall."
"We didn’t break it!" Trump said. "We shattered that sucker."
Near the end of his speech, a protester standing in the section behind the stage caused a stir. Trump turned, pointed to the individual and finger waves the protester out: "They don’t know that Hillary lost a couple of weeks ago!"
At another junction in his wandering speech, he joked: “We did have a lot of fun fighting Hillary, didn’t we?
He also took a crack at Ohio Gov. John Kasich in his former rival’s home state.
"In the great state of Ohio, we didn’t have the upper echelon of politician, either?" Trump demurred, prompting the loudest boos of the night. But he then said, "Your Governor John Kasich called me after the election and was very nice."
Trump also took a shot at the conservative Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, asking the crowd: "What the hell was he trying to prove? I guess he wanted us to lose the Supreme Court."
Trump said will restore the “sovereignty” of the United States and vowed to end illegal immigration.
"We will construct a great wall at the border," Trump promised despite his own suggestions that fencing could stand in place of a wall.
He called for the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act and called for affordable childcare, help for women entrepreneurs, and the injection of federal resources for law enforcement across the country. Trump said the "depleted military" will be rebuilt.
Trump, now just under two months from his inauguration, proclaimed: "What we’ve created is a movement, and it’s a beautiful thing."
