Trump held his first campaign event on Tuesday since the thwarted assassination attempt over the weekend, telling a packed 6,000-seat arena in Flint, Michigan that the assassin “couldn’t even get a shot off” while describing the Secret Service’s “great” response to the threat.
During a town hall moderated by former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump took audience questions about manufacturing and the economy, among other issues. Like his first appearance after the attempt on his life in July – also a rally in Michigan – Trump appeared ready to return to business as usual on the campaign trail, and his supporters were eager to see him in action.
Susan Moore and Christopher Moore, who came to the rally from Mundy Township, Michigan, got in line at 9.30am for a chance to get inside their first Trump event, where doors didn’t open until 3pm. “The atmosphere is just electric,” Susan Moore said.
Clark Grognan, a career auto worker from Whiteford, Michigan, said Bill Clinton’s “horrible” presidency convinced him to vote Republican, and that it was “exciting” to meet so many like-minded people.
“God is not done with President Trump,” Huckabee Sanders said as she opened the event, calling Trump “what our country desperately needs”.
Auto workers were among the most common attendees. Several people wore “Unions for Trump” merchandise, and some had UAW T-shirts.
Flint, like much of Michigan’s east side, has been a bastion of the US auto industry. Trump began the night by lamenting the rise of Mexican car manufacturing. He championed new tariffs, saying about Mexico: “We’re not going to let them sell one car in the USA.”
Despite the local flavor, Trump’s talking points were often sweepingly broad and ominous. “If a tragedy happens and we don’t win, there won’t be a single car-making job left here,” Trump said. When asked what he saw as the biggest threat to Michigan automobile manufacturing, Trump spoke at length about the possible dangers of nuclear “obliteration”, saying: “We are closer than ever to world war three.”
Paul Baldwin, a retired auto worker and UAW member for 50 years, was volunteering as an usher. “I’m 74 years old, and I was never really politically active,” Baldwin said. But he said he believed it was “more important than ever to fight for our freedoms”. Baldwin said Trump was the “only one” who was willing to protect those freedoms.
Economics were to the fore throughout the night. Joseph Boisture, a former volunteer caller for the Trump campaign, said he came to the event over concern about the cost of basic needs. One of the participants asked Trump how he planned to lower the cost of living. Trump responded by disparaging Harris’s economic record, saying some people would pay “70, even 80% more in taxes” if she were to become president.
“I’m supporting Trump because he’ll run our country like a business,” Christopher Moore said. After hearing Trump describe his plan for reciprocal tariffs with China, Moore said: “He’s smart enough to get China to buy our rice!”
Most attendees brought up immigration or the border as key concerns. “I really feel for those people, down in Honduras, Central America,” Clark Grognan said. “People make jokes about them eating dogs down there, but they do it to survive. It’s sad if you think about it.”
Brenda Sanford, from Davison, Michigan, said she was “ecstatic” to be attending her first Trump event. Sanford said immigration was her most important campaign issue, expressing concern about how “people from other countries are stealing our welfare money”.
Trump riffed on border wall construction during his administration, calling it “just what the Border Patrol wanted” and suggesting that Tijuana in Mexico was the fastest-growing city in the world due to an increase of migrants.
