Trump speaks from behind bulletproof glass at first outdoor rally since his attempted assassination

ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — At his first outdoor rally since last month’s attempted assassination, Donald Trump spoke from behind bulletproof glass Wednesday in North Carolina at an event focused on national security. On politics, he called his predecessor Barack Obama “nasty” for his comments the night before at the Democratic National Convention.

Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal and for wars in Ukraine and the Middle East while returning repeatedly in his remarks to the Democratic gathering in Chicago, where speaker after speaker has assailed Trump as a threat to the country should he return to the White House.

The former president, now the GOP nominee, asked the crowd gathered at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame whether they had seen the speeches given Tuesday by former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.

“He was taking shots at your president. And so was Michelle. You know, they always say, ‘Sir, please stick to policy. Don’t get personal.’ And yet they’re getting personal all night long, these people,” he said, asking: “Do I still have to stick to policy?”

Trump, who is facing Harris in the November election after Biden stepped aside, spoke from behind a podium surrounded by panes of bulletproof glass that formed a protective wall across the stage — part of ramped-up security measures aimed at keeping him safe after the attack by a Pennsylvania gunman on July 13.

Storage containers were stacked around the perimeter to create additional walls and block sight lines. Snipers were positioned on roofs at the venue, where old aircraft were sitting behind the podium and a large American flag was suspended from cranes.

The event, billed as focused on national security issues, was part of Trump's weeklong series of counterprogramming to the Democratic National Convention, which is underway in Chicago. Allies have been urging him to focus on policy instead of personal attacks against Harris as he struggles to adjust to Biden's departure from the race.

The second night of the Democrats' convention Tuesday was a highly energized affair that featured speeches from both Obamas, who went after Trump in particularly biting terms.

“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black,” Michelle Obama said.

Barack Obama mocked Trump's obsession with his crowd sizes and called Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”

“It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” the former president said.

After mentioning the Obamas early on in his speech, Trump came back around to the former president's comments.

“He was very nasty last night," Trump said. "I try and be nice to people, you know. But it’s a little tough when they get personal.”

He then polled the crowd on whether he should listen to advisers who he said have told him, “Please, sir, don't get personal. Talk about policy.”

“Should I get personal or should I not get personal?” he asked. The crowd overwhelmingly chose the former.

Trump also mocked the convention and its frequent references to him, calling it a “charade."

In his remarks, Trump derided Harris as “the most radical left person ever to run for high political office in our country," and said the woman he now calls “Comrade Kamala" will destroy the country if she is elected to the White House.

While Trump has acknowledged the race is closer than before Biden dropped out, his aides believe that Harris remains relatively unknown and that efforts to highlight her past statements and the positions she took in previous races will turn off swing voters after her honeymoon period ends.

He repeatedly referenced the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan, and said that, if he wins, he will ask for the resignation of every senior military official who was involved.

He pledged to get “critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our U.S. armed forces." During his administration, he instituted a Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender individuals from serving in the military, which Biden reversed.

“Our warriors should be focused on defeating America's enemies, not figuring out their genders,” he said. “If you want to have a sex change or a social justice seminar, then you can do it somewhere else, but you’re not going to do it in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Space Force or the United States Marines.”

He also pledged major investments in the armed forces and said he would launch the largest peace-time recruitment drive in the nation's history.

“We’re going to make it so hot that I’m going to want to resign and join the military," said Trump, who received a series of deferments, including one attained with a physician’s letter stating that he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.

Trump was joined Wednesday by his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who cast Harris as a candidate selected by power brokers instead of voters and lambasted her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before Trump took the stage.

That included continuing to accuse Walz of mischaracterizing his service record as an Army National Guard member, as well as criticizing him for retiring from service before his unit’s deployment to Iraq.

“What won’t Stolen Valor Tim Walz lie about?” Vance, who served four years as a Marine, asked the crowd.

Trump has spent the week visiting political battleground states in his busiest week of campaigning since the Republican primaries.

Reflecting the importance of North Carolina in this year's election, the trip was Trump's second to the state in just the past week. Last Wednesday, he appeared in Asheville, North Carolina, for a speech on the economy.

Trump won North Carolina by a comfortable margin in 2016. The state delivered the former president his closest statewide margin of victory four years ago and is once again considered a key battleground in 2024.

Before Trump landed in Asheboro, his plane did a flyover of the rally site. The crowd erupted into cheers.

Edna Ryan, a 68-year-old retired flight attendant and private pilot, said she was bullish on the Republican’s chances, but said: “We need to be strong because otherwise we’re going to be very sorry.”

Lisa Watts, a retired business owner from Hickory, North Carolina, who was attending her fifth Trump rally, said she’s feeling “very positive” about the race against Harris.

"I don’t think that her record proves that she is ready to run this country," Watts said.

Watts said she doesn’t think Trump’s chances of winning are much different now from when Biden was the Democratic nominee.

“I think the Democrats are going to try to do everything they can to keep her up on that pedestal,” she said, predicting the hype around Harris will fade.

Colvin reported from New York.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at North Carolina Aviation Museum, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at North Carolina Aviation Museum, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, stand on stage at a campaign rally at North Carolina Aviation Museum, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at North Carolina Aviation Museum, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump dances during a campaign event in Asheboro, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Asheboro, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at North Carolina Aviation Museum, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at North Carolina Aviation Museum, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Rooftop security is in position prior to Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Wednesday's event is the first outdoor rally Trump has held since the attempted assassination of the former president. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Security gets in position prior to Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Wednesday's event is the first outdoor rally Trump has held since the attempted assassination of the former president. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

An outdoor stage is set encased with bulletproof glass as supporters arrive to hear Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speak at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Trump is holding his first outdoor rally since narrowly surviving an attempted assassination when a a gunman opened fire in Pennsylvania last month. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

An outdoor stage is set encased with bulletproof glass as supporters arrive to hear Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speak at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Trump is holding his first outdoor rally since narrowly surviving an attempted assassination when a a gunman opened fire in Pennsylvania last month. (AP Photo/Michelle Price)

Supporters arrive to hear Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speak at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Trump is holding his first outdoor rally since narrowly surviving an attempted assassination when a a gunman opened fire in Pennsylvania last month. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

An outdoor stage is set encased with bulletproof glass as supporters arrive to hear Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speak at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Trump is holding his first outdoor rally since narrowly surviving an attempted assassination when a a gunman opened fire in Pennsylvania last month. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

An outdoor stage is set encased with bulletproof glass as supporters arrive to hear Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speak at a rally, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, N.C. Trump is holding his first outdoor rally since narrowly surviving an attempted assassination when a a gunman opened fire in Pennsylvania last month. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

WARSAW (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a three-nation, Ukraine-focused European tour in Poland on Thursday after hearing repeated appeals from Ukrainian officials to use Western-supplied weaponry for long-range strikes inside Russia.

Blinken traveled to Warsaw after spending a day in Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during which they pledged to bring the Ukrainian requests to their leaders.

U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are to meet in the United States on Friday amid signs both Washington and London are growing more receptive to allowing the Ukrainians to use their arms to hit targets farther inside Russia than previously okayed.

“As what Russia’s doing has changed, as the battlefield has changed, we’ve adapted,” Blinken said at a news conference in Warsaw.

Biden has allowed Ukraine to fire U.S.-provided missiles across the border into Russia in self-defense, but has largely limited the distance they can be fired.

“One of the purposes of my visit to Kyiv yesterday was to hear from our Ukrainian partners what they believe they need now to deal with the current battlefield, including in eastern Ukraine and other parts of the country,” Blinken said. “I can tell you that as we go forward we will do exactly what we have already done, which is we will adjust as necessary … in order to defend against Russian aggression.”

He delivered a similar message in Kyiv a day earlier. In both cases, the language was similar to that which he used in May, shortly before the U.S. green-lit Ukrainian use of U.S. weapons just inside Russian territory.

The diplomatic visit unfolded as Russia’s bigger and better-equipped army bears down on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and conducts aerial attacks on cities across the country using missiles, glide bombs and drones that claim many civilian casualties.

NATO member Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine, has been supportive of the Ukrainians and Blinken heard requests for easing weapons-use restrictions from Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.

Sikorski argued that Ukraine should be allowed to use Western weapons against Russia in self-defense, because “Russia is committing war crimes by attacking civilian targets.”

“Missiles that hit these civilian targets are fired from bomber aircraft from over the territory of Russia. These bombers take off from airfields on Russia’s territory,” Sikorski said. “A victim of aggression has the right to defend itself.”

“So I believe that Ukraine has the right to use Western weapons to prevent war crimes,” Sikorski added.

Blinken also met in Warsaw with President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who share Sikorski's pro-Ukraine stance.

On Wednesday, Blinken and Lammy announced that the United States and Britain had pledged nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid to Ukraine during their visit to Kyiv. Blinken announced more than $700 million in humanitarian aid, while Lammy confirmed that his country would provide another $782 million in assistance and loan guarantees.

Much of the effort was aimed at bolstering the energy grid that Russia has repeatedly pounded ahead of an expected difficult winter.

Ukraine's wish list is long and non-military assistance is certainly on it, but Ukrainian officials made clear their most important ask is for easing restrictions on where Western weapons can be used. Air-raid sirens sounded repeatedly during the visit, causing delays in their schedule and forcing them to cancel a wreath-laying ceremony.

Blinken said he would bring the discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the missiles “back to Washington to brief the president” and that Biden and Starmer will “no doubt” talk about the issue when they meet in Washington.

Relations between Ukraine and its Western partners have been increasingly strained by Kyiv’s repeated appeals for the West’s authorization to use long-range weapons from the United States and other allies to strike targets deeper inside Russia.

That issue took on added urgency after Russia’s latest reported acquisition of ballistic missiles from Iran, but Western leaders have so far balked at Ukraine’s request, fearing that, if granted, it could escalate the war.

Zelenskyy has said that he has a plan for victory which includes several components, including goals Ukraine hopes to achieve on the battlefield as well as diplomatic and economic aims.

In late August he described Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region as part of that plan, saying it had removed the Russian threat from Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions. He has said he hopes to present the plan to both Harris and Trump in September, not knowing which will win the presidency.

“Let’s count on some strong decisions, at least,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday. “For us, it’s very important.”

Vanessa Gera contributed from Warsaw.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski waits for the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken for a talks in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, welcomes by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, right, for talks in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, welcomes by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, right, for talks in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, welcomes by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, right, for talks in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, welcomes by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, right, for talks in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken waves as he arrives at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, second from right, welcomes by Ambassador of the United States to Poland Mark Brzezinski, second from left, as he arrives at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, center, arrives at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken waves as he arrives at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken waves as he arrives at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)