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White House Pledges Aggressive Midterm Campaign Plan for Trump Trump Attacks Democrats at Rally, but Mostly Steers Clear of Scandals
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Ahead of President Trump’s visit to West Virginia on Tuesday, White House officials outlined what they said was an aggressive midterm campaign agenda that would capitalize on the president’s efforts to draw crowds to rallies — held largely in states where he is already popular — and lend his likeness to the Republican National Committee’s fund-raising efforts. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — President Trump invoked on Tuesday fears of immigrant crime and angry mobs as he began a weekslong push to try to preserve the Republican majority in Congress as the party braces for midterm losses amid a cascade of scandals involving members of his inner circle.
In a phone call with reporters, multiple senior officials familiar with the president’s plans for the midterms said Mr. Trump would be participating in at least eight rallies over the next six weeks and as many as 16 fund-raisers, which officials said had filled R.N.C. coffers upward of $227 million so far this election cycle. “A vote for any Democrat in November is a vote to eliminate immigration enforcement, to open our borders and set loose vicious predators and violent criminals,” Mr. Trump told thousands of supporters during a rally in Charleston, W.Va. “They’ll be all over our communities. They will be preying on our communities.”
In a wide-ranging, more than hourlong speech that touched on the potency of his political endorsements, his love of coal and promises to build a border wall — with a paean to his mother’s turkey recipe thrown in — Mr. Trump worked the crowd into a frenzy, repeatedly demonizing Democrats as coddlers of lawbreakers who would take the country down a dangerous path.
“The Democrat Party is held hostage by the so-called resistance: left-wing haters and angry mobs,” he said. “They’re trying to tear down our institutions, disrespect our flag, demean our law enforcement, denigrate our history and disparage our great country — and we’re not going to let it happen.”
On a day that his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted of financial fraud and Mr. Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations that he said were directed by Mr. Trump himself, the president mostly steered clear of those subjects.
But the rally offered a vivid tableau of an extraordinary period in Mr. Trump’s already tumultuous tenure. The president is growing more defiant by the day even as the scandals appear to pose an increasingly serious threat to him, embarking on a cross-country tour in an urgent push to bolster his party’s chances of keeping control of Congress.
It was Mr. Trump’s sixth visit to West Virginia, and the leading edge of an intensive effort in which officials say he will headline rallies intended to stoke Republican enthusiasm and hold fund-raising events to stock the party’s campaign coffers. The state is home to Senator Joe Manchin III, who is facing a competitive race for re-election despite breaking ranks with his party and becoming the first Democrat to meet with Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court.
As Mr. Trump made his way to Charleston on Air Force One, news of Mr. Manafort’s conviction and Mr. Cohen’s plea dominated Fox News on the in-flight monitors. The president touched only glancingly on the issue in front of his enthusiastic crowd and never named either man. But he did denounce “fake news and the Russian witch hunt,” and taunted the team run by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, which secured the convictions against Mr. Manafort.
“Where is the collusion?” Mr. Trump shouted as his supporters cheered. “You know, they’re still looking for the collusion. Where is the collusion? Find the collusion.”
But he quickly pivoted to border security, which he said was “at the beating heart of this election.”
“Democrats want to turn America into one big, fat sanctuary city for criminal aliens, and honestly, honestly, they’re more protective of aliens — the criminal aliens — than they are of the people,” Mr. Trump said.
He led the crowd in a chant of “build the wall,” repeating his false claim that the wall along the Southwest border was already being built — Congress has barred the allocation of border security funding to construct anything but existing barriers — and promising that it would soon be finished.
“That wall is coming along,” Mr. Trump said. “All of a sudden, it’s going to be finished, and it’s going to be very, very effective.”
When Patrick Morrisey, the state attorney general who is Mr. Manchin’s Republican challenger, led a chant of “lock her up” — referring to Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s former campaign rival — the president egged on the crowd, pumping his fist rhythmically with the shouts.
But Mr. Trump also added new material to his stock of well-worn rally staples. He regaled the crowd with the story of how, he said, he had jawboned NATO allies into paying more for their own defense. In doing so, he confirmed reports — which the White House had previously refused to do — that he had privately threatened to withdraw from the trans-Atlantic alliance at a summit meeting in Brussels last month.
Mr. Trump said an unnamed leader of another country had asked him, “Would you leave us if we don’t pay our bills?”
“Now, they hated my answer,” he said, adding, “I said: ‘Yes! I will leave you if you don’t pay your bills.’”
Before Mr. Trump’s visit to West Virginia, White House officials outlined what they said was an aggressive midterm campaign effort that would capitalize on the president’s ability to draw crowds to rallies — held largely in deeply conservative states where he is already popular — and put his muscle behind the Republican National Committee’s fund-raising efforts.
In a phone call with reporters, multiple senior officials familiar with the president’s plans for the midterms said Mr. Trump would be participating in at least eight rallies over the next six weeks and as many as 16 fund-raisers, which officials said had raised more than $227 million for the Republicans so far this election cycle.
Mr. Trump will visit at least seven states — and as many as 15 — in the next six weeks, the officials said, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Kentucky and Tennessee. Most are not traditional battleground states, but several are home to Democratic senators who face difficult re-election fights. At recent campaign rallies, in stops in places like Indiana and North Dakota, the president has seemed to relish taking punches at those vulnerable Democrats, with the constant rallying cry that they are obstructing his agenda.Mr. Trump will visit at least seven states — and as many as 15 — in the next six weeks, the officials said, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Kentucky and Tennessee. Most are not traditional battleground states, but several are home to Democratic senators who face difficult re-election fights. At recent campaign rallies, in stops in places like Indiana and North Dakota, the president has seemed to relish taking punches at those vulnerable Democrats, with the constant rallying cry that they are obstructing his agenda.
On Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump is scheduled to make his sixth visit to West Virginia, where Senator Joe Manchin III faces a tough battle for re-election despite breaking rank with his party and becoming the first Democrat to meet with Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court pick. In the phone call with reporters, White House officials declined multiple requests by reporters to put their efforts to promote Mr. Trump’s agenda on the record. One person familiar with the president’s thinking claimed that as many as one-third of all recent rally attendees were not Republican voters, while another said the number was a general statement about the president’s ability to draw in people who came not necessarily to enjoy the red-meat content, but to see the president.
In the phone call with reporters on Tuesday, White House officials declined multiple requests by reporters to put their efforts to promote Mr. Trump’s agenda on the record. One person familiar with the president’s thinking claimed that as many as one-third of all recent rally attendees were not Republican voters, while another said the number was a general statement about the president’s ability to draw in people who came not necessarily to enjoy the red-meat content, but to see the president. Officials said they would remain cautious about sending the president into more traditional battleground states over the next few weeks. Some in Mr. Trump’s party have noted a risk to Mr. Trump’s firebrand approach, particularly when it comes to railing against immigrants in states that are home to Republicans in affluent, heavily suburban districts that the party must win to keep control of the House.
Officials said they would remain cautious about sending the president into more traditional battleground states as the next few weeks unfold. Some in Mr. Trump’s party have noted a risk to Mr. Trump’s firebrand approach, particularly when it comes to railing against immigrants in states that are home to Republicans in affluent, heavily suburban districts that the party must win to keep control of the House.
In an interview about Mr. Trump’s approach to rallies this month, Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president, characterized Mr. Trump’s personality and political instincts as the campaign’s greatest asset.In an interview about Mr. Trump’s approach to rallies this month, Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president, characterized Mr. Trump’s personality and political instincts as the campaign’s greatest asset.
She also said the president would make it clear that a vote for Republicans would be a vote to uphold specifics of his agenda.She also said the president would make it clear that a vote for Republicans would be a vote to uphold specifics of his agenda.
“His message is ‘here’s what we’ve done for you,’” Ms. Conway said. “It’s not ‘vote for me,’ it’s ‘vote for this man or woman.’”“His message is ‘here’s what we’ve done for you,’” Ms. Conway said. “It’s not ‘vote for me,’ it’s ‘vote for this man or woman.’”
Other presidents have used rallies as a shot in the arm to gin up support before midterm elections, but the White House made it a point on Tuesday to say that the president was topping his predecessors, including Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, when it came to midterm campaign stops.Other presidents have used rallies as a shot in the arm to gin up support before midterm elections, but the White House made it a point on Tuesday to say that the president was topping his predecessors, including Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, when it came to midterm campaign stops.