Businessman Donald Trump took his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination to Jacksonville on Saturday, saying his effort was about leading America to victories again, securing the border and taking shots at some of his primary opponents.
“We don’t win anymore,” Trump said. “Every single country is ripping us off.”
Trump was making a quick swing of the Sunshine State, speaking in Miami on Friday night before hitting the First Coast on Saturday. In most national polls and surveys of key states, Trump is ahead though Dr. Ben Carson has pulled ahead in recent polls of Iowa, home of the first caucus.
Despite two other Republican presidential hopefuls--former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio--calling Florida home, Trump is increasingly turning his eyes to the Sunshine State which holds it primary in the middle of March. Trump owns properties and occasionally resides in Florida.
At a packed Jacksonville Landing in downtown Jacksonville, Trump came out to 1980s rock anthem “We’re Not Going to Take It” by Twisted Sister and spoke for an hour to an enthused crowd.
“Wow, this is great, unbelievable,” Trump told the cheering crowd before focusing on the casino boat he had built on the First Coast. “We love Jacksonville.” Trump also gave a shout out to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry before turning to his campaign.
“It’s a message,” Trump said, insisting this campaign was about more than just his ambitions. “:This is a movement.”
Trump turned to his “make America great” slogan and called for restoring the American dream.
“People want to hear the message,” Trump said, showcasing his tax plan. “We are the highest taxed nation.” Trump insisted his plan would cut taxes.
Ripping primary rival Bush for supporting Common Core, Trump turned his fire to education spending, insisting the U.S. was spending more per capita than other nations and not getting results.
Trump also hit campaign spending, noting he was funding his own bid, claiming he was spenidng less than plenty of the other candidates in the race. The candidate also threw punches at some of the other Republican hopefuls.
“Carson is controlled by his PAC. Bush is controlled by his PAC. Rubio is controlled by his PAC,” Trump said before jabbing Rubio for sweating on stage and coming around to hit Bush again.
Trump noted reports that Bush was cutting staff salaries. “Bush wants to run this country,” Trump said. “He can’t even run his own campaign.” Noting Bush was meeting with his parents and campaign team this weekend, Trump insisted Bush was “embarrassing his family” and struggling.
“Bush is meeting with mommy and daddy,” Trump said, insisting it was a “failing campaign” with “no money.”
Turning to the issues, Trump reiterated his opposition to illegal immigration and to President Barack Obama’s federal health-care law.
On foreign affairs, Trump said the U.S. was having problems in the Middle East, especially with Islamic State (IS) terrorism. “We can’t even beat ISIS,” Trump insisted, vowing to restore America’s military prominence. Trump continued to hit ISIS, saying “what they do is beyond belief,” pointing to beheadings and other atrocities.
“We let it happen,” Trump said, insisting ISIS rose due to America’s policies in Iraq. Noting ISIS had 60,000 members, Trump said it was impossible to imagine great American commanders like George Patton and Douglas MacArthur backing down against it. Trump also ripped into “our so-called allies” who had lost too much equipment send over to the Middle East. Noting Sgt. Bowe Berghdal would not face much punishment despite his actions, Trump called him a “traitor” and said he should be executed.
Trump also jabbed his opponents, including former U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, the favorite for the Democratic nod, on foreign affairs. “Putin will love Bush and he’ll love Hillary,” Trump said.
Taking a few shots at the media, Trump insisted it was not being fair to him, calling out CNN and the Wall Street Journal for its coverage. Going back to his Republican opponents, Trump labeled Bush and Carson as “low energy” while downplaying Carson moving up in Iowa.
“I don’t believe them,” Trump said about polls showing Carson ahead in Iowa, insisting the polls were coming from biases sources like Blomberg and the Des Moines Register. “I don’t think Carson is going to negotiate well with China, folks....and I really like him.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on with Carson,” Trump added. “I don’t get it.”
Trump noted he was leading national polls and in New Hampshire, Florida, Massachusetts, the Carolinas, Ohio, Nevada, New Jersey and other states across the nation.
Turning to the Sunshine State, Trump insisted he was ahead in Florida. “Trump is number one in Florida,” Trump said. “Rubio is way behind.” Trump smacked Rubio as “very disloyal to Bush” due to entering the race despite their close relationship.
“We are doing well,” Trump insisted, noting his strong poll numbers and saying he was enjoying going around the nation and meeting Americans. “I am having fun.” Noting unlike Obama and Clinton speak with teleprompters, Trump said it was easy for him to speak without a prepared text because of his support.
“There is love in these audiences,” Trump said, saying 80 percent of the audience in South Florida on Friday night were Hispanics despite his calls for cracking down on illegal immigration.
The crowd responded, chanting “Build the wall!”
“They want the wall, they’re all Hispanic,” Trump said about the South Florida crowd. “They don’t want people entering our country illegally, it’s as simple as that.”
“Walls work,” Trump said. “My walls will work.”
Trump noted the Great Wall of China was still standing and said America needed a wall around 1,000 miles or so to secure the border with Mexico.
“We can do it very reasonably,” Trump said, insisting he will be able to negotiate with Mexico so that nation will end up paying the bill. “Mexico is going to pay for it.”
Trump noted he had bought a property in South Florida for $170 million but was able to lower the price for $100 million, saying he beat the other side by accusing the other side of practicing fraud and even calling the property a “sh-t house.” He said he “made good deals” and U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry could have learned a few things from him.
“That would have happened in the Iran deal if Kerry had some God damn brains,” Trump said ,contrasting his record on negotiations with politicians.
Trump turned his fire to trade deals, trade imbalances with other countries and currency manipulation. Noting the “Made in the U.S.A." label used to be more common, Trump called for more products made domestically.
Insisting America had “the best people in the world,” Trump said he would not rely on “political hacks” as he goes forward.
“We’re going to make our country rich again,” Trump said. “We have no choice. We owe $19 trillion. We lose every trade deal we make.”
Returning his fire to the Obama administration and Kerry, Trump said America needed better negotiators, claiming, as things stood with the Iran deal, the U.S. and Israel are in major danger. Trump called for tougher negotiations against Iran. “It’s insane to give them money, we shouldn’t give them anything,” Trump said, adding Clinton would not be any better. “Who would your rather have negotiating? Hillary or Trump?”
“You want to have a mess of a country?” Trump asked. “You have Hillary elected president. You’ll have a country going to hell.”
Trump insisted he would defeat Clinton. “I’m going to beat her," he said. “I don’t think she’ll be tough."
Trump also hit U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Clinton’s main challenger for the Democratic nomination, as a “communist” and a “maniac" but insisted “I would rather run against Hillary.” Focusing on Sanders, Trump insisted illegal immigrants would do better under Sanders than America’s veterans.
“Her record is so bad,” Trump said, hitting Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi attack though he admitted she skated out of congressional hearings on the matter this week with little problem. “Based on that record, I don’t know how you lose.”
Trump turned with a final blast at the Obama administration and the political leadership in general. “We don’t have leaders,” Trump said, calling Obama and Kerry “incompetents.”
Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., the Republican candidate who lost to Obama in 2012, also drew Trump‘s fire. “I don’t want his endorsement,” Trump said. “He let us down. He choked.”
Trump ended by promising he would bring more jobs to America if elected and would increase taxes on companies that were building facilities in other countries while laying American employees off and with a final shot at politicians.
“There’s total gridlock in Washington because there’s no leadership,” Trump said, adding he would rely on the “smartest people in the world” on his team to help rebuild America. “They want to see the country be great just like you want to see the country be great.”
“The American dream will be back,” Trump closed, saying it would “bigger and stronger than ever before” if he is elected.
The campaign swing is the latest sign that Trump is increasingly focused on the Sunshine State. On Friday, Trump named two leading Republicans as the chairs of his Florida presidential team: Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Vice Chairman Joe Gruters and veteran GOP operative Susie Wiles.
Gruters spoke at the event in Jacksonville on Saturday, warning that the stakes were high in 2016 and that politics as usual will not be able to solve the host of problems the nation faces.
“Politicians continue to defend the system that no longer works,” Gruters said, praising Trump as “someone special” and contrasting him with politicians. “Donald Trump is a leader, Donald Trump is a fighter, Donald Trump is a patriot.”
During his years as the chairman of the Sarasota County GOP, Gruters held events featuring Trump. Gruters is currently running for the Florida House. Based in Jacksonville, Wiles is a longtime Republican operative and managed Rick Scott’s successful gubernatorial campaign back in 2010. Earlier this month, Trump announced that he was naming Karen Giorno to lead his efforts in the Sunshine State. The founder of Kingston Public Affairs, Giorno has ties to Florida, having worked as Scott’s director of external affairs. Giorno has also served as Florida director of conservative group American Commitment.
Next month,Trump and 11 other Republican presidential hopefuls will appear at the RPOF’s Sunshine Summit in Orlando.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
