Trump to hammer anti-immigrant message in Colorado; Walz says Trump ‘manufacturing bullshit’ after Detroit insult – live | US elections 2024

Donald Trump’s campaign requested military vehicles and aircraft to transport and protect the former president, citing fears of an Iranian assassination plot, the Washington Post reports.

It is an unprecedented request to make, and it’s not clear what has been provided. The request came after suspects with no known connections to Iran tried twice in recent months to assassination the former president. While the Secret Service says it has stepped up its protection of Trump since then, the Post reports that his campaign does not feel their measures are sufficient, citing recent briefings that Iran is still seeking to assassinate him.

Here’s more:

Donald Trump’s campaign requested military aircraft for Trump to fly in during the final weeks of the campaign, expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies, ballistic glass pre-positioned in seven battleground states for the campaign’s use and an array of military vehicles to transport Trump, according to emails reviewed by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter.

The requests are extraordinary and unprecedented — no nominee in recent history has been ferried around in military planes ahead of an election. But the requests came after Trump’s campaign advisers received briefings in which the government said Iran is still actively plotting to kill him, according to the emails reviewed by The Post and the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Trump advisers have grown concerned about drones and missiles, according to the people.

In the emails over the past two weeks from campaign manager Susie Wiles to Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the head of the Secret Service, she expressed displeasure with the Secret Service and said the campaign recently had to cancel a public event at the last minute because of a “lack of personnel” from the Secret Service — instead only putting Trump in a small room with reporters. Wiles said Trump’s campaign is being hampered in its planning because of threats expects to hold far more events in the final weeks of the campaign.

She also wrote that the U.S. government has not been able to provide what the campaign views as an extensive enough plan to protect Trump. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally, also wrote a letter to the Secret Service asking for military aircraft or additional protection for Trump’s private plane, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post.

Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Trump, declined to comment.

Secret Service officials did not answer specific questions about the discussions with the Trump campaign, but spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Trump is receiving “the highest levels of protection.” In a letter to the campaign, Rowe said the government is assessing what can be provided.

It’s a special time of year – the time when the October surprise comes.

The October surprise is a US election mainstay, and refers to the unexpected event or events that can happen in the final weeks before the election and upend the race, typically to one candidate’s advantage and the other’s disadvantage.

Hillary Clinton knows a thing or two about that. This time eight years ago, she was widely viewed as being in pole position to trounce Donald Trump. But on 28 October 2016, then-FBI director James Comey released a letter saying he was reopening an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server. There remains lots of debate over why Clinton went on to lose to Trump days later, but that letter is generally regarded as having a major impact on voters.

Fast forward eight years and no bombshell has yet emerged, 11 days into October. It should also be noted that there was no October surprise four years ago, when Joe Biden sent Trump packing. Nonetheless, Clinton was on SiriusXM today to warn Kamala Harris of the possibility a surprise could be coming. Here’s what she said:

I believe that despite how close it is, she will win and we can all then exhale and get about the business of trying to heal the divisions in our country … I believe strongly that she has to be prepared for any last-minute October surprises that come from the Trump campaign, from their Russian support system that has now been called out numerous times by our own government, that they once again are trying to help Trump get elected … She doesn’t have a Jim Comey, thankfully, waiting in the wings, you know, a knee-capper. But she does have the combined efforts of the Big Lie machine of Trump and the people who support him that she’s going to have to be prepared for. And of course now there’s the added factor of artificial intelligence, and how it can make you look like you’ve said things that you never said because it’s now so much more sophisticated.

Tim Walz just opened fire on Donald Trump, who yesterday insulted nearby Detroit during a visit to the city.

Speaking at a community college in Macomb county, which is part of the Detroit, metro area, Walz reminded the crowd of what Trump said yesterday: “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if [Kamala Harris is] your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

Then Walz told the crowd:

If the guy would have ever spent any time in the midwest, like all of us know, we’d know Detroit’s experience in American comeback and Renaissance.

…

We know the city’s growing. Crime’s down. Factories are opening up. But those guys, all they know about manufacturing is manufacturing bullshit every time they show up.

Here’s more on what Trump said:

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is onstage in Macomb county, Michigan, aiming to woo working class voters in a vital state with an event centered on his campaign’s support for unions.

He began with words about the two recent hurricanes that have upended life in parts of the southeastern United States:

Our hearts are going out to those communities across the southeast that have been devastated by Helene and then Milton. Vice President Harris, President Biden, watching developments closely, working with states, local governments and the governors, shall stand with the people of the region every step of the way until this recovery and rebuilding is done from these storms, because that’s what Americans do at a time of crisis.

Donald Trump will this afternoon hold a rally in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado – which is not a swing state.

So why is the former president going there? It’s all due to immigration, which Aurora has seen a lot of, and which Trump has made a focus of his campaign, spreading factually wobbly allegations that new arrivals in the United States are committing crimes.

Crime is generally on the downslope in Aurora, as it is nationally, but Trump has made reports of shootings and potentially a murder connected to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a talking point at recent rallies, and is set to drive the message in person during his 3pm rally in the suburb.

“Aurora, Colorado has become a ‘war zone’ due to the influx of violent Venezuelan prison gang members from Tren de Aragua,” his campaign said in announcing the rally.

“Kamala Harris’ open-border policies are turning once-safe communities into nightmares for law-abiding citizens.”

As the Guardian’s Josiah Hesse reports, all signs point to Trump and his allies greatly exaggerating the situation in Aurora:

Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump’s attacks on the Biden administration’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton yesterday, accusing Republicans of “playing political games” while Americans are suffering.

Speaking at a town hall hosted by Univision on Thursday, Harris lamented the “mis- and disinformation” about the White House’s response efforts.

“People are playing political games, suggesting that resources and support is only going to certain people based on a political agenda, and this is just not accurate,” Harris said.

Harris noted she has traveled to states affected by the storms, including Georgia and North Carolina, to ensure victims know they are entitled to government relief as they attempt to rebuild.

Trump and his Republican allies have falsely accused Democrats of redirecting recovery resources toward migrants instead of helping victims of the storm, and Joe Biden warned yesterday that the baseless accusations are causing threats against response workers.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Biden delivered this sharp rebuke to Trump: “Get a life, man. Help these people.”

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, will denounce Donald Trump’s record on supporting US manufacturing during a campaign appearance in the battleground state of Michigan today.

According to speech excerpts shared by a senior Harris campaign adviser, Walz will use his event in Warren, Michigan, to criticize Trump’s “broken promises” to workers and celebrate Detroit’s “great American comeback”.

“Crime is down. The city is growing. Factories are opening again. All these guys know about manufacturing is how to manufacture bullshit,” Walz is expected to say.

“Trump’s presidency was an endless string of broken promises. He actually came here to Warren when he ran the first time and promised that, under a Trump presidency, ‘you won’t lose one plant.’ I guess, technically, that wasn’t a lie — because he lost six of them across the country.”

Walz will also dismiss concerns about Democrats mandating the use of electric vehicles, which has become a talking point among Trump and his allies.

“People are looking for choices — and we need to make those choices more affordable,” Walz will say. “Nobody’s mandating anything. If you want to drive a ‘79 International Harvester Scout like I do, knock yourself out.”

Good morning, US politics blog readers, there’s another busy news day in store and we’ll keep up with all the developments as they happen. Party politics has seeped further into hurricane news, and you can follow all that in our storm blog, here.

Elsewhere, much is afoot on the campaign trail. Here’s what’s in store.

• Barack Obama said he had “a problem” with men who keep coming up with bogus excuses not to vote for Kamala Harris and leaning into Donald Trump’s macho aggression, in his first appearance on the campaign trail for the Democrats in Pittsburgh yesterday, in the must-win state of Pennsylvania. Expect more events with the former, two-term president.

• The former president told the crowd: “I’m sorry, gentlemen, I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior of bullying and putting people down is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you: that is not what real strength is.
  ”It never has been. Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves, that is what we should want for our daughters and for our sons, and that is what I want to see a president of the United States of America.”

• Obama also condemned Trump’s spreading of disinformation about the hurricane, railing against “the idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments”. He highlighted that lies may discourage some of the people affected from seeking help. Visibly emotional, Obama asked: “When did that become OK?”

• The Democratic governors of three vital battleground states, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, are going to hit the trail together.

• Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and Wisconsin’s Tony Evers plan a midwestern bus tour from next week, called Driving Forward , Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell PAC said and Axios reported this morning.

• Bill Clinton, who maybe didn’t set the Democratic voting world alight with his lengthy address at the party’s convention in August but is nevertheless always a big name in US politics, is going to Georgia this weekend and then North Carolina, where Trump is marginally ahead in the polls and it’s all hands on deck for the Dems.

• Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice presidential pick, is going to do a TV interview blitz in, where else, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the coming days, Axios reports.

• Donald Trump will speak in Aurora, Colorado, this afternoon, a state that’s confidently Democratic these days, but the former president plans to slam it to migrants and asylum seekers again, planning to make claims about Venezuelans and crime levels.

• This comes after Trump again used brutal language to undercut United States allies in the NATO alliance, saying “we will not protect you” from Russia if they don’t spend as much as they should on paper on their militaries. Trump was speaking in Detroit.