ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Donald Trump made little effort to stay on message Wednesday at a rally in North Carolina that his campaign billed as a big economic address, mixing pledges to slash energy prices and 鈥渦nleash economic abundance鈥 with familiar off-script tangents on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris鈥 laugh, the mechanics of wind energy and President Joe Biden鈥檚 son.
The 75-minute speech featured a litany of broad policy ideas and even grander promises to end inflation, bolster already record-level U.S. energy production and raise Americans鈥 standard of living. But those pronouncements were often lost in the former president鈥檚 typically freewheeling, grievance-laden style that has made it difficult for him to answer the enthusiasm of Harris鈥 nascent campaign.
Trump aired his frustration over Democrats swapping the vice president in place of Biden at the top of their presidential ticket. He repeatedly denigrated San Francisco, where Harris was once the district attorney, as 鈥渦nlivable鈥 and went after his rival in deeply personal terms, questioning her intelligence, saying she has 鈥渢he laugh of a crazy person鈥 and musing that Democrats were being 鈥減olitically correct鈥 in trying to elevate the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.
鈥淵ou know why she hasn鈥檛 done an interview? She鈥檚 not smart. She鈥檚 not intelligent. And we鈥檝e gone through enough of that with this guy, Crooked Joe,鈥 Trump said, using the nickname he often uses for Biden.
When he was focusing on policy, Trump pledged to end 鈥渏ob-killing regulations,鈥 roll back Biden-era restrictions on fossil fuel production and investments in green energy, instruct Cabinet members to use 鈥渆very tool鈥 to 鈥渄efeat inflation鈥 within the first year of a second term and end all taxes on Social Security benefits and income classified as tips.
He promised economic growth so abundant that 鈥渨e will pay off all our debt,鈥 similar to a pledge he made in 2016 before the national debt ballooned during his presidency. He pledged to lower Americans鈥 energy costs by 鈥50 to 70%鈥 within 12 months, or a 鈥渕aximum 18 months.鈥 But he immediately hedged: 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 work out, you鈥檒l say, 鈥榦h well, I voted for him and he still got it down a lot.鈥欌
At one point, Trump seemed even to question the purpose of giving a speech ostensibly devoted to the economy. 鈥淭hey wanted to do a speech on the economy,鈥 he riffed, apparently referring to his campaign aides. 鈥淭hey say it's the most important subject. I'm not sure it is.鈥
Trump spoke at Harrah鈥檚 Cherokee Center, an auditorium in downtown Asheville, with his podium flanked by more than a dozen American flags and custom backdrops that read: 鈥淣o tax on Social Security鈥 and 鈥淣o tax on tips鈥 鈥 a made-for-TV setup to project the policy heft his campaign wanted Trump to convey.
Republicans had been looking for him to focus more on the economy than the scattershot arguments and attacks he has made on Harris since Democrats shifted to her as their presidential nominee. Twice in the past week, Trump has virtually bypassed such opportunities, first in an hour-long news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, then in a 2 1/2-hour conversation on the social media platform X with CEO Elon Musk.
When he stayed on script Wednesday, Trump contrasted the current economy with his own presidency, asking, 鈥淚s anything less expensive under Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe?鈥
鈥淜amala has declared that tackling inflation will be a 鈥楧ay One priority鈥 for her," Trump said. "But Day One for Kamala was 3 1/2 years ago. Why hasn鈥檛 she done it?鈥
Yet throughout his speech, Trump ping-ponged between his prepared remarks and familiar attacks 鈥 deviating from the teleprompter in the middle of explaining a new economic promise when something triggered another thought. He ticked through prepared remarks crisply and quickly. The rest was his more freewheeling style, punctuated with hand gestures and hyperbole.
More than once, he jumped from a policy contrast with Harris to taking another swipe at her hometown of San Francisco. He also noted several times that it was Biden, not Harris, who earned votes from Democratic primary voters. During a section of his speech on energy, he slipped in an apparent dig at Hunter Biden, the president鈥檚 son, and his 鈥渓aptop from hell.鈥
Trump sought to connect his emphasis on the border and immigration policy to the economy. He repeated his dubious claim that the influx would strain Social Security and Medicare to the point of collapse. He bemoaned the taxpayer money being spent on housing migrants in some U.S. cities, including his native New York. But most of the time he spent on immigration was the same broadsides about immigrants and violent crime that have been a staple of Trump鈥檚 speeches since 2015.
The latest attempt to reset his campaign comes in the state that delivered Trump his closest statewide margin of victory four years ago and that is once again expected to be a battleground in 2024.
Trump aides have long thought that an inflationary economy was an albatross for Democrats this year. But the event in Asheville only amplifies questions about whether Trump can effectively make it a centrepiece of his matchup against Harris.
The speech came the same day that the Labor Department reported that year-over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, a potential reprieve for Harris in the face of Trump's attacks over inflation. Harris plans to be in North Carolina on Friday to release more details of her promise to make 鈥渂uilding up the middle class ... a defining goal of my presidency.鈥
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Americans are more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy, but the difference is slight 鈥 45% for Trump and 38% for Harris.
Some voters who came to hear Trump said they were ready to hear him talk more specifically about his plans, not because they don鈥檛 already trust him but because they want him to expand his appeal ahead of Election Day.
鈥淗e needs to tell people what he鈥檚 going to do, talk about the issues,鈥 said Timothy Vath, a 55-year-old who drove from Greenville, South Carolina. 鈥淗e did what he said he was going to do鈥 in his initial term. 鈥淭alk about how he鈥檇 do that again.鈥
Mona Shope, a 60-year-old from nearby Candler, said Trump, despite his own wealth, 鈥渦nderstands working people and wants what鈥檚 best for us.鈥 A recent retiree from a public community college, Shope said she has a state pension but has picked up part-time work to mitigate against inflation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so I can still have vacations and spending money after paying my bills,鈥 she said. 鈥淪ometimes it feels like there鈥檚 nothing left to save.鈥
In some of his off-script moments, Trump ventured into familiar misrepresentations of fact, including when he mocked wind energy by suggesting people would face power outages when the wind wasn't blowing.
Trump again insisted that inflation would not have spiked had he been re-elected in 2020, a claim that ignores the global supply chain interruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 spending boosts that included a massive aid package Trump signed as president, and the global energy price effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A Harris aide said Wednesday that the vice president welcomes any comparison Trump is able to make.
鈥淣o matter what he says, one thing is certain: Trump has no plan, no vision, and no meaningful interest in helping build up the middle class,鈥 communications director Michael Tyler wrote in a campaign memo. Tyler pointed to the economic slowdown of the pandemic and 2017 tax cuts that were tilted to corporations and wealthy individual households, and predicted Trump's proposals on trade, taxation and reversing Biden-era policies would 鈥渟end inflation skyrocketing and cost our economy millions of jobs 鈥 all to benefit the ultra-wealthy and special interests.鈥
