Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump aims to keep America safe. That was theme of his 40-minute speech on Wednesday at Trump’s Soho hotel in New York City.
The speech signaled Trump shifting gears towards a general election and took aim at Hillary Clinton’s policies, while giving an outline of what a Trump presidency would look like. He plans to
- Appoint judges that will uphold the constitution.
- Change immigration laws to employ more Americans.
- Cancel rules and regulations that send jobs overseas.
- Lift restrictions on energy.
- Repeal and replace Obamacare.
- Introduce massive tax reform to create jobs.
- Impose tough new ethics rules on the role of Secretary Of State.
Yet one theme ran throughout those reforms, and throughout the speech in general. Keeping America Safe as his first priority.
He connected this theme with Clinton by subverting her campaign slogan, “I’m with Her.” He changed it into his own statement, “I’m with you: the American people.”
The speech comes after increased concern from the Republican party days after Trump fired campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and a new finance report showed that the Trump campaign had only about $1.3 million dollars at the start of June.
Throughout the speech Trump spoke directly to the needs of the American worker, and portrayed himself as the “anti-politician.”
“This election will decide whether we are ruled by the people, or by the politicians,” he said, promising to end the monopoly on special interests in Washington and linking Clinton to those interests.
Trump also zeroed in on Clinton’s history with trade, foreign policy, and the spread of ISIS particularly in the years after 2009 when she was Secretary of State, pointing out that when she was sworn in as Secretary, Libya was cooperating, Iraq had seen a “reduction in violence,” and other countries in the Middle East were under control.
By 2013, however Trump linked the destabilization in the Middle East to Clinton’s decisions as secretary of state, and specifically called out Clinton for the role she played in the Middle East.
“ISIS threatens us today because of the decisions Hillary Clinton has made,” he said, concluding that her “tryout” for the presidency has produced “one deadly foreign policy disaster after another.”
In addition, he attacked for “refusing to acknowledge the dangers of radical Islam,” and said that her immigration policy proposes a “550 percent increase in Syrian refugees coming into the United States.”
He attacked Clinton on judgement and questions of corruption, positing that her motivation is based on the “more than 1,000 foreign donations Hillary failed to disclose while at the State Department.”
“Hillary Clinton may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency.”
Trump cited the book ”Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich“ by Peter Schweizer.
“She get’s rich, making you poor,” he said in summary of the book which came out in May 2015.
Two other criticisms that he leveled against Clinton were against her temperament and judgement. He pointed to her interventionist leanings in supporting the Iraq invasion as senator, and rushing into war in Libya as secretary of state, as examples of when her temperament led her astray and her judgment faltered.
Notably, Trump made no mention of building a wall on the Mexican-American border, or temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.
