1 of 3 | Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures at a campaign event in Coralville, Iowa on Wednesday. Photo by Alex Wroblewski/UPI |
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CORALVILLE, Iowa, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump vowed at a rally in Coralville, Iowa, on Wednesday to enact the largest deportation mission in American history and said he will protect law enforcement officers from liability.
Speaking at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Center, Trump said he will end all "open border policies" on his first day in office if elected in 2024. This includes re-enacting and expanding the travel ban that he first instituted in 2017.
As he did on the trail during his first campaign, Trump claimed that "many" who are entering the United States through the southern border are from prisons and mental institutions.
Trump also said he plans to overhaul the Department of Justice and direct it to investigate "every corrupt district attorney."
"I'm going to indemnify all police officers from being destroyed for taking strong actions against the radical left. They're forced to avoid any conflict," Trump said. "They're under the threat of losing their pensions."
The event, called Trump's "commit to caucus," was meant to urge attendees to organize around the Iowa caucus, which takes place on Jan. 15.
"We're just 33 days away from Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus. I wonder how you got that?" Trump said. "You got that because of me. Without Trump, you wouldn't be first in the nation."
The packed conference hall roared as the former president entered. The crowd responded with cheers as he bellowed out his plans for a second term in office. Chants of "U.S.A." and "Trump" broke out sporadically throughout his speech, which lasted more than an hour.
For Iowans, many of those plans involve bolstering its ethanol industry.
In 2019, Trump approved year-round E15 use.
"It's not that we're conservative. It's that we have common sense," Trump said. "Whether it's borders or energy. I will stand up for Iowa ethanol."
The former president touted his poll numbers, including a recent poll by The Des Moines Register, which he called a "beautiful poll."
"Of course if my numbers were bad I wouldn't be saying that," he said as the audience laughed.
Trump questioned the loyalty of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and fellow Republican presidential candidates, his former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He chided Haley and DeSantis for allegedly saying they would not run against him, then changing course.
Reynolds said early in the campaign cycle that she would remain neutral before later endorsing DeSantis.
"She said she'd like to be neutral. I said don't come around to any of our rallies," Trump said. "She was one of the most popular governors in the nation and now she's the least popular governor in the entire nation. We love loyalty, don't we?"
The crowd cheered on Trump as he criticized the Republican Iowa governor and as he heaped praise on its attorney general, Brenna Bird, who was among those to take the stage before him.
Rev. Joel Tenney of Tiffin, Iowa, leading the crowd in prayer about an hour before Trump took stage, said the upcoming election is part of a "spiritual battle" with "demonic forces in play."
"We must re-elect President Trump for the third time, but this time he will have his seat in the Oval Office," Tenney said, trumpeting the false claim that Trump won the 2020 election. "When Trump is voted president there will be retribution against those who have done wrong in this country."
Trump similarly painted a grim picture of the state of the country both currently and if he is not elected in November. For the last roughly 10 minutes of his speech, somber music played behind Trump as he lamented the country being in "decline."
"Together, we're taking on some of the most menacing forces and vicious opponents we have ever seen," Trump said. "They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you."
