Detroit – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed to “prevent World War III, restore world peace” and remove “warmongers” from the U.S. government during a campaign rally in Detroit on Monday, the same day that the war between Russia and Ukraine continued to escalate.
Trump made the remarks while speaking to hundreds of National Guard officers from across the country attending a conference at Huntington Place. Trump noted that the crowd in the convention hall was more “restrained” than at the raucous rallies where he usually speaks.
“We have never been closer to World War III than we are now,” Trump once said. “It’s a terrible thing.”
Trump told National Guard members he did not want them “over there.” He said if elected in November, he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine “very quickly.”
Trump’s comments about Russia’s ongoing occupation of eastern Ukraine came at a moment when war is rapidly escalating on both sides of the two countries’ border. The Ukrainian prime minister said Russia attacked more than half of the country on Monday with drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic Kinzhal missiles. The offensive came after the Ukrainian military, with U.S. support, recently gained ground in Russia’s Kursk region. It was the largest attack on Russian soil since World War II.
The National Guard Association of the United States General Conference & Exhibition hosts an annual event that includes Pentagon officials and politicians, according to an announcement released last week that said the association invites Democratic and Republican candidates to speak in presidential election years.
Monday’s event was Trump’s seventh visit to Michigan this year – and the first day of a busy week for the presidential campaign in the swing state. He will return to the state on Thursday to give a speech about the economy in Potterville in Eaton County.
After his hour-long speech in Detroit, Trump helped deliver pizza to a Republican campaign office in Macomb County, said Eric Castiglia, a Macomb County Republican who got a photo with Trump on Monday.
“He literally came in and thanked everyone,” Castiglia said of Trump’s visit to the Republican campaign office.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, is scheduled to be in the Big Rapids area on Tuesday to deliver a campaign speech about the economy, inflation and manufacturing, the Trump campaign said. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, is scheduled to visit Grand Rapids on Thursday, the Harris campaign said Monday.
During his speech at the Detroit Riverfront Convention Center, Trump said he would impose a one-year prison sentence for burning U.S. flags. He acknowledged, however, that the nation’s highest court has ruled otherwise and that he will try to change that – though it is unclear how he plans to change the court’s stance.
In a landmark 1989 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that flag burning is a form of “symbolic speech” protected by the First Amendment. The majority wrote that societal outrage over flag burning alone is not a justification for suppressing free speech, while the minority argued that the flag’s unique status as a symbol of national unity outweighs concerns about “symbolic speech.”
If re-elected, Trump also announced that he would establish a Space National Guard during his first term, after having already established the Space Force in 2019. The Space Force is an independent military branch that organizes, equips and trains its personnel to protect the interests of the United States and its allies in space.
The National Guard leadership “very urgently” wants a presence in space, Trump said.
The National Guard Association works to “promote and support the national security of the United States” and “maintain a strong National Guard,” according to its 2022 tax return.
The former president vowed to invest heavily in drones, robotics, artificial intelligence and hypersonics.
“The Space Force is very important, very, very important,” Trump said. “We just got destroyed in space and now we’re leading the way.”
A new confirmation
About 18 minutes into his speech, Trump turned the stage over to former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Gabbard, who served in Iraq with the Hawaii National Guard in 2005, endorsed Trump.
Under the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, the country is “facing multiple wars on multiple fronts” and is “closer to the brink of nuclear war than ever before,” Gabbard said.
“I am convinced that his first task will be to bring us back from the brink of war,” Gabbard said. “We cannot be prosperous if we do not have peace.”
Gabbard’s speech received applause from the audience. Immediately afterward, Trump said he was “not sure” whether Gabbard would fully support him.
“I heard that could happen,” Trump said.
Gabbard’s endorsement followed independent presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s endorsement of the Republican nominee on Friday and a pledge to try to get off the ballot in 10 swing states in November. However, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office said minor party candidates like Kennedy could not withdraw their vote.
Ammar Moussa, rapid response director for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign, criticized Trump’s foreign policy record on Monday.
“We cannot rely on Trump to keep us safe, but Vice President Harris is a proven leader on the world stage and will use her expertise to keep America safe, defeat our adversaries and stand by our allies around the world,” Moussa said.
Focus on Afghanistan
The former president also used his speech in Detroit to criticize the Biden administration for its handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago this week, which ended a nearly 20-year American military occupation.
And Trump warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could escalate into a global conflict. He would end the war before taking office if voters re-elect him to the White House in November.
“I will prevent World War III,” Trump once said.
Trump said that when he returns to the White House, he will “throw the warmongers and profiteers” out of the federal government.
“We will restore world peace,” he said to great applause.
Sunny Davenport, a Florida native, was working as a vendor at the National Guard Association conference and attended Trump’s speech.
Davenport said the Biden administration botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan, did not provide sufficient support to Israel and implemented an “open borders” policy, citing the reasons for the applause Trump received on Monday.
“The current administration is really slacking and is not as strong as it was in the past,” Davenport said. “America was once one of the world powers, but we are no longer. And we need to get back there.”
Trump’s speech in Detroit, which came 71 days before he faces Harris in the Nov. 5 election, focused on foreign affairs and immigration, but also touched on issues such as “fair elections” and even the correct pronunciation of the name “Missouri.”
“I love Missouri,” Trump said. “I love this state. They say it that way. I never fully understood it. But I say it that way because I won by 25 points. So that’s what I say.”
Trump won Missouri by 15 percentage points in 2020 and by 19 percentage points in 2016.
More: Six fake Trump electors from 2020 have been nominated to represent Michigan Republicans in the 2024 election
Trump is the only Republican presidential candidate to win Michigan since 1988. He won the state in 2016 against Democrat Hillary Clinton by less than one percentage point, 47.5% to 47.3%, or about 10,700 votes.
But four years later, in 2020, Trump lost to Biden in Michigan by 154,000 votes, or 3 percentage points, 48% to 51%.
Trump was last in Detroit on June 15 to speak at a conservative organization’s convention. After the 2020 election, Trump claimed, without providing evidence to support his statements, that there was “rampant” voter fraud in Detroit, Michigan’s largest city and a Democratic stronghold.
“It would be nice if someone would vote and their vote actually counted,” Trump said on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
