What we covered here
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence held a rally in Elkhart, Indiana.
President Trump hosts Indiana rally
15 Posts
Our live coverage has ended. Scroll down to see the highlights from President Trump’s rally.
7 key quotes from Trump's rally in Indiana
President Trump held a rally tonight in Elkhart, Indiana, following a busy week at the White House.
Almost immediately after taking the stage inside a packed middle school gymnasium, Trump hailed his recent foreign policy accomplishments, including securing the release of three American prisoners from North Korea.
If you missed it, here are Trump’s key quotes:
- On the US-North Korea summit: “Something very good is going to happen.”
- On getting along with Kim Jong Un: “The relationship is good.”
- On the US’ standing in the world: “America is being respected again.”
- On protecting the Second Amendment: “Never believe that your Second Amendment is not under siege.”
- On what gets you into a nuclear war: “You remember everybody in the fake news, when they were saying he’s going to get us into a nuclear war? And you know what gets you into nuclear wars, and you know what gets you into other wars? Weakness.”
- On voting in the Indiana midterm election: “Now if Joe Donnelly, Sleepin’ Joe, and the Democrats get back into power, remember what I said, they will raise your taxes. … They will destroy your jobs, and they are going to knock the hell out of your borders.”
- On his plans for health care: “Wait till you see the plans we have coming out literally over the next four weeks. We have great health care plans coming out.”
Trump says he hopes to make a good deal with Iran
President Trump blasted the Iran deal tonight, calling it “disastrous” and embarrassing.
Trump, who announced this week his decision to pull the US out of the Iran deal, said his administration is imposing harsh and strong sanctions on Iran.
“I hope to be able to make a deal with them,” Trump said. “A good deal, a fair deal.”
He continued: “We cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons.”
Trump tells crowd: Your Second Amendment rights are under siege
President Trump told his supporters at a rally in Indiana that their Second Amendment rights were “under siege.”
The President made the similar remarks while speaking to National Rifle Associate members in Dallas last week. Trump, while speaking at the NRA conference, said Second Amendment rights will never be under siege while he is president.
Trump says his new campaign slogan is "Keep America Great"
President Trump said his 2020 campaign slogan will be “Keep America Great” because “we’re doing so well.”
He said his current, “Make America Great Again,” “wouldn’t work out too well” when he starts campaigning in two years.
Trump: My relationship with Kim Jong Un is good
President Trump, speaking in Elkhart tonight, said his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is good.
He continued: “You remember everybody in the fake news, when they were saying he’s going to get us into a nuclear war? And you know what gets you into nuclear wars, and you know what gets you into other wars? Weakness.”
On the upcoming summit with North Korea, Trump said, “Something very good is going to happen.”
Trump also mentioned how he greeted the three Americans who were detained in North Korea.
“We welcomed them back home the proper way,” he said.
Trump: "America is being respected again"
President Trump is speaking right now at a rally in Elkhart, Indiana.
Trump said “jobs are booming” and “confidence is soaring,” as the US unlocks “opportunities for prosperity and peace.”
Pence: President Trump "embraces his role as a leader of the free world"
Vice President Mike Pence, while speaking to a crowd in Indiana, hailed the administration’s recent foreign policy accomplishments.
Pence, former Indiana governor, described Trump as a man of “action” and “of his word.”
The President, he said, acted on his plan to pull the US out of the Iran Deal, and made progress on North Korea.
Trump is hoping to project party unity tonight
President Trump hopes to project party unity and forward momentum during a political rally in Indiana on tonight after a bitter GOP primary battle in the state earlier this week.
Trump is certain to hail this week’s foreign policy accomplishments, including announcing the US withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal and the successful return of US prisoners from North Korea.
He’s also expected to hail economic improvements in the country – a potent topic in Elkhart, which then-President Barack Obama visited in 2009 only days into his term. Obama returned to the town, a hub of recreational vehicle manufacturing, in 2016.
Trump is expected to assume a larger role on the campaign trail in coming months as Republicans work to retain control of the House and Senate.
Why Trump is visiting this Indiana city
President Trump is traveling to Elkhart, Indiana, to embrace Mike Braun, the businessman and former state representative who won Tuesday’s GOP Senate primary in Indiana, and to tout his own tax record.
His strongest selling point is likely to be the tax bill.
RV manufacturer Winnebago was among the companies to hand employees $1,000 bonus checks this year.
“The tax reform was great,” said Scott Degnan, the vice president and general manager at Winnebago.
At the same time, RV manufacturers could be among the casualties of a trade war triggered by Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China. Those tariffs “could and likely will present some pressure,” Degnan said, adding that “overall, we think we’ll get through it fine.”
At least one thing is certain: Presidents will continue visiting Elkhart due to its unique status as a laboratory for the overall economy for the next generation due to the “breathtakingly high risk” that automation poses to the RV industry, said Michael Hicks, an economics professor at northeastern Indiana’s Ball State University.
“Every president’s going to be coming to Elkhart for he next 15, 20 years,” he said.
Pence takes a stand on Mueller's probe, says "it's time to wrap it up"
Although President Trump has routinely taken to Twitter to trash the investigation, Vice President Mike Pence has not been nearly as outspoken on the special counsel’s activities.
Today, however, Pence urged special counsel Robert Mueller to end his investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
The vice president’s comments to NBC News are his most direct yet in pressuring the special counsel to drop the investigation.
Pence also maintained, like Trump, that the administration is fully cooperating with the investigation and will continue to do so.
Indiana held a primary election this week and Pence's brother won the GOP nomination
President Trump’s visit to Indiana comes days after Greg Pence, Vice President Mike Pence’s older brother, won the Republican nomination for his congressional bid.
The seat, which was vacated due to Rep. Luke Messer’s Senate run, represents parts of rural eastern Indiana, and was previously held by Mike Pence.
Greg Pence, who serves as the finance chairman of Messer’s Senate campaign, had never before run for office.
The eldest of six Pence siblings and the owner of antique malls in southern Indiana, Greg Pence is also part of his brother’s inner circle, CNN previously reported.
5 things Trump will likely bring up at his rally
It’s been a busy day for President Trump, who greeted three Americans detained in North Korea earlier today.
With North Korea and Iran, and the President’s criticism of the media over his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and Russia coverage, Trump will have a lot to talk about.
Here are a few subjects he could bring up:
- Kim Jong Un: Trump says he’s meeting the North Korean leader on June 12 in Singapore.
- Freed Americans: Under an American flag and dark night sky, Trump personally welcomed home the Americans after they were released from North Korea.
- Iran deal: Trump announced this week that he is quitting the Iran nuclear deal, despite pressure from allies to stick with it.
- Rudy Giuliani: Sources tell CNN that the President has been flustered by the onslaught of negative coverage generated by Giuliani, who has exacerbated his political troubles in recent days with a series of unscripted interviews.
- Michael Cohen: Sources told CNN the President’s personal attorney aggressively pitched access to the Trump administration following the election.
This is what it looked like in Indiana today
Supporters of President Trump lined up outside North Side Middle School in Elkhart today ahead of the President’s visit.
They held signs and donned campaign memorabilia:
This truck was fitted with a Trump-Pence float: