YOUNGSTOWN, OH - JULY 25: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a rally at the Covelli Centre on July 25, 2017 in Youngstown, Ohio. The rally coincides with the Senates vote on GOP legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Photo by Justin Merriman/Getty Images)
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Story highlights
Trump rallied before supporters in Youngstown, Ohio
Trump lost Mahoning County -- where Youngstown sits -- in the 2016 election
WashingtonCNN
—
President Donald Trump returned to the campaign stage Tuesday, holding a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, where he defended his unconventional approach as necessary to change the country for the better.
“It is much easier to act presidential than what we are doing here tonight, believe me,” Trump said. “With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that’s ever held this office.”
“I think that with few exceptions, no president has done anywhere near what we’ve done in his first six months. Not even close,” he added.
For Trump, returning to the campaign trail for his sixth campaign rally as president marked a reprieve from the conflict in Washington.
“I’m back in the American heartland far away from the Washington swamp,” he said.
The President publicly fumed on Tuesday morning about a host of topics, sending a dozen tweets before noon about everything from his “very weak” attorney general to an open question about whether Republicans are “willing to step up to the plate” and make good on seven years of health care promises by starting debate on the Republican health care bill in the Senate.
Trump, briefly interrupted a couple times by protesters, praised senators for moving ahead on health care.
“We’re now one step closer to liberating our citizens from this Obamacare nightmare and delivering great health care for the American people,” he said before an enthusiastic crowd.
He also ran through a list of campaign objectives he said he was making good on, including immigration, building up the military and gun rights.
“Yes, our Second Amendment is very, very sound again. That would’ve been gonzo, it would have been gone, but I never had a doubt,” he said.
Trump touted what he called the “liberation” of US towns and cities, thanks to his ramped-up immigration policies.
“(Gang members) don’t want to use guns because it’s too fast and it’s not painful enough, so they’ll take a young, beautiful girl, 16, 15 and others and they slice them and dice them with a knife because they want them to go through excruciating pain before they die, and these are the animals that we’ve been protecting for so long,” Trump said.
“Well, they’re not being protected any longer, folks. And that is why my administration is launching a nationwide crackdown on sanctuary cities,” he said.
The Trump administration opened up a new salvo against sanctuary cities on Tuesday – moving to make immigration enforcement a pre-condition for receiving key law enforcement grants.
Sessions announced Tuesday evening that applicants for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants will be required to certify that they’ll cooperate with federal immigration enforcement more extensively than in the past, a move that is likely to generate court challenges quickly from advocates and state and local jurisdictions who have opposed Trump’s efforts.
Among the requirements: Letting federal authorities access detainees in jails to inquire about immigration status and giving the federal government 48 hours’ notice before any inmate they’re interested in is released.
Reprieve from Washington
Trump relishes his time before his crowds of supporters, so the Ohio visit offers him a much-needed reprieve from the stresses of Washington. Tuesday night’s event also brings Trump back to the site of one of his most critical victories of the 2016 election: Ohio.
Trump lost Mahoning County – where Youngstown sits – in the 2016 election to Democrat Hillary Clinton, but only narrowly, 49% to 46%. This a sizable break from past elections, where Democrat Barack Obama beat Republican Mitt Romney by nearly 30% in 2012 and Republican Sen. John McCain by 26% in 2008.
Trump ended up winning the entire Buckeye State by 8% in 2016 – shocking many within Clinton’s campaign. The visit to Youngstown, where the President will speak at the 6,000-person capacity Covelli Centre, will bring the businessman back to the base of white, working-class voters who helped propel him to the White House.
John McNally, the Democratic mayor of Youngstown, said he expects Trump to be well-received when he gets to the city.
“No matter how wild I may think the past six months have been, no matter the tweet storm that went out this morning on a variety of subjects, I think the people in Youngstown and Mahoning County and Trumbull County really appreciate the President’s no holds barred mentality toward those who he thinks oppose him,” he said Tuesday on CNN ahead of the rally.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
exclusive photo by nigel parry for CNN
President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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The Trump family, circa 1986.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."
Photos: Donald Trump: America's 45th President
Donna Connor/Getty Images
Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.
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Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Simon Bruty/Getty Images
Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Getty Images
An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."
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A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Bebeto Matthews/AP
Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Getty Images
Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.
Photos: Donald Trump: America's 45th President
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For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
NBCUniversal/NBC/Getty Images
Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
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Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
AFP/Getty Images
In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Photos: Donald Trump: America's 45th President
Getty Images
Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.
Photos: Donald Trump: America's 45th President
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.
Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Nancy Borowick for CNN
The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
John Moore/Getty Images
Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Pool/Getty Images
Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Donald Trump/Twitter
Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.
Photos: Donald Trump's rise
Mary Calvert for CNN
Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.
In Washington, the cloud of an ongoing investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election has cast a pall over the Trump administration, subjecting aides and adviser to questioning by Senate committees and angering Trump. On Monday, Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner appeared before Senate intelligence committee to discuss a meeting with Russians during the 2016 election.
“Jared Kushner did very well yesterday in proving he did not collude with the Russians. Witch Hunt,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning.
McNally said while some voters in Youngstown are aware of the Russia story, many aren’t focused on it.
“Some of that gets up in the stratosphere of political thought of Washington that folks here in Youngstown on a daily basis really aren’t focused in on,” he said, adding that his hope is Trump will “talk about the jobs he said would be created in areas like ours.”
So far, Trump’s 2020 campaign is already up and running, already raising money and hosting events across the country, including campaign events headlined by the president in Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
CNN’s Eli Watkins and Tal Kopan contributed to this report.
