GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Donald Trump traveled to the site of the most bloody battle of the Civil War on Saturday, where he suggested that the United States is nearly as divided now as it was then. But instead of laying out his vision for uniting the country, as President Abraham Lincoln once did in this historic place, Trump declared that the system is rigged against him, that election results cannot be trusted, that Hillary Clinton should have been barred from running for president, that the media is “corrupt” and that he will sue all of the women who have accused him of sexual assault.
“It is my privilege to be here in Gettysburg, hallowed ground where so many lives were given in service to freedom – amazing place,” Trump said, soon after taking the stage more than an hour later than expected in a ballroom at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center. “President Lincoln served in a time of division like we’ve never seen before. It is my hope that we can look at his example to heal the divisions we are living through right now. We are a very divided nation.”
Trump told the crowd of about 500 locals who are active in the Republican Party he didn’t have to run for president, but he did so because the country is in trouble and he can fix things because he’s an outsider who knows how the “very broken system” works. He described himself as being able to deliver “the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime.”
Trump’s chief examples of the system being “totally rigged and broken” were Clinton being allowed to run for president, even though he says that she broke “so many laws on so many different occasions,” rampant voter fraud he implied could cost him the election and the media being “dishonest.”
“They’re corrupt. They lie and fabricate stories to make a candidate that is not their preferred choice look as bad, and even dangerous, as possible,” Trump said. “At my rallies, they never show or talk about the massive crowd size and try to diminish all of our events. On the other hand, they don’t show the small size of Hillary’s crowds but, in fact, talk about how people are there – very small crowds, you know it, they know it, everybody knows it.”
Trump accused media outlets of giving voice to women accusing him of improper behavior or sexual assault without fact-checking their claims.
“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign,” Trump said, as the crowd cheered. “Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
After spending more than 13 minutes listing his grievances, Trump read several numbered lists of things that he would do on his first day in office or during his first 100 days in office. Nearly all of the items are things that he has already repeatedly promised to do, but this was the first time that he listed them in a speech. In June, Trump gave a similar speech where he laid out just eight chief goals: Appoint judges who will uphold the U.S. Constitution, push for immigration reform, challenge countries that benefit too much from trade deals, stop the flow of jobs out of the country, lift restrictions on energy production, repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, push for tax reform and impose new ethics rules for the Office of the Secretary of State.
In his speech on Saturday, Trump listed more than two dozen things that he wants to do, including amending the Constitution to create term limits in Congress, renegotiating NAFTA and other trade deals, overwriting “every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama,” and suspending immigration from “terror-prone regions.”
Trump’s priorities were organized along four central themes: ethics reforms in Washington; protecting American workers; domestic security and rule of law; and legislative measures he will propose to Congress, including repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Late Friday night, a handful of campaign aides had a conference call with reporters to preview Trump’s speech. Although the call dragged on for more than 30 minutes, the aides provided no details of what Trump would actually propose in the speech and sometimes contradicted one another in ways that led some reporters to wonder if the speech had yet been finalized. One aide said that Trump would outline 10 things he would do in his first 100 days, while another aide said there would not be an exact number of goals.
The list of “very specific” topics Trump planned to cover in the speech grew as the call continued: Differences between him and Clinton, the influence of donors, the economy, safety, security, strengthening the military, rebuilding the Navy, veterans, job creation, the working class, ethics reform, African American voters and “what inspires him to get up every morning.”
Questions from reporters about Trump’s policy positions were often answered with lengthy attacks on Clinton, including accusing her of not detailing as many policy positions as Trump has, which is not true. One aide declared Trump has “the most policy-oriented campaign,” while another claimed Trump is running a campaign “grounded in substance and vision.”
“Secretary Clinton has no core,” one aide said early in the call. “She doesn’t have a governing vision for America because she has no vision.”
When asked why Trump selected Gettysburg as the setting for his address, an aide said Trump “has spoken before about Abraham Lincoln” and that “Abraham Lincoln is going to be an important figure in terms of Mr. Trump’s vision for the Republican Party.” But also: unity, military veterans and African American voters.
“Gettysburg was the moment where the war turned,” the aide said. “It was a symbol of sacrifice. It’s obviously a very fitting location.”
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