Trump's 'Gettysburg address' makes closing argument for choosing him and unveils first-100-days agenda as he promises 'the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime'
- 'First 100 days' agenda speech formalized his mainstay political pledges with promises of legislation and executive orders
- Called it a 'Contract with the American Voter,' modeling it after the 1994 Republican 'Contract with America'
- Trump touted 'the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime' and made his final substantive pitch to frame the campaign's last two weeks
- Told an audience of about 300 invited guests that he will 'drain the swamp' in Washington
- Borrowed a line from Abraham Lincoln's 1863 speech, saying he would replace D.C. elites 'with a new government of, by and for the people.'
- A Trump aide said the Civil War battlefield site is appropriate because 'Gettysburg was the moment when the war turned'
- The candidate briefly visited the site of the famed Civil War battle after his speech
Donald Trump
planted a flag on hallowed ground Saturday morning by laying out near
the Gettysburg National Battlefield what he would do in his first 100
days as President of the United States.
Touting
'the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime,' Trump told
an audience of about 300 invited guests that he will 'drain the swamp'
in Washington, replacing the current government 'with a new government
of, by and for the people.'
The
symbolism factor was high, with a campaign aide telling reporters
Friday night that the Civil War battle in Gettysburg memorialized by
President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 'was the moment when the war turned.'
The
Republican nominee left the podium and made a beeline in his motorcade
for the National Military Park – the battlefield memorial – spending
about as much time there as it took Lincoln to speak his 272 words.
Trump's
own war – a two-front clash against both Hillary Clinton and the mass
media – will come to a climax on November 8 when most Americans will
choose a leader for the next four years.
He summed up the substance of his campaign in a 'Contract With The American Voter' – a point-by-point set of initiatives that track with the themes he has focused on for 16 months.
'It is a
contract between myself and the American voter, and begins with
restoring honesty, accountability and change to Washington,' Trump said.
Included
are six anti-corruption pledges, seven actions related to jobs and
trade and five on immigration and the 'rule of law.' He ended his
contract with a list of 10 bills he said he would try to quickly
shepherd through Congress.
Aides
promised the Republican nominee would put more meat on the bare bones
of some of his mainstay pledges, but little in the speech broke new
ground.
Instead,
Trump formalized his signature pledges by announcing a legislative
package that he said he would help shepherd through Congress.
He also reiterated a laundry list of executive actions that he has sketched out in speeches stretching back more than a year.
The
small crowd gathered in a hotel ballroom was a far cry from the 10,000
rowdy fans he typically draws, but they brought moments of enthusiasm.
The audience rose to their feet and chanted 'Trump! Trump! Trump!' as he entered. One man shouted: 'We love you!'
And
in a sign of how deeply the GOP's most negative campaign slogan has
taken root, half the crowd chanted 'Lock her up!' at the first mention
of Hillary Clinton's name.
Trump
reinforced his improbable but now undeniable populist bona fides,
casting Clinton as the embodiment of a corrupt political establishment
that's willing to throw the middle class under bus the day after
Americans vote.
'Hillary Clinton is running against all of the American people, and all of the American voters,' he said.
The
billionaire real estate tycoon minced no words about his fears that
rampant voter fraud could cost him and other Republicans a fair shot at
winning 17 days from now.
Citing Pew Research Center numbers, he said that '1.8 million dead people are registered to vote.'
'And some of them are voting. I wonder how that happens!'
He
also referred to 2.8 million people who are 'registered in more than
one state' and said that '14 per cent of non-citizens are registered to
vote.'
Saturday's two loudest applause lines were
Trump's pledge to repeal and replace the Obamacare medical insurance
law and to end federal funding for 'sanctuary cities' – Democrat-run
municipalities that offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants.
Saturday
marked the second time Trump has engaged in the customary 'first 100
days' routine: In June he tacked a laundry list on to a speech
castigating the Clintons for profiting from a 'special interest
monopoly' in Washington.
That set of
promises was predictably vague, including pledges to 'appoint judges who
will uphold the Constitution,' 'stand up to countries that cheat on
trade' and 'pass massive tax reform to create millions of new jobs.'
But on Saturday, for instance, those vagaries were supplemented by some concrete initiatives.
His
famed wall on the U.S. border got a budget line-item with a proposed
piece of legislation that will fund its construction – 'with the full
understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United
States.'
Trump's
light overtures on tax reform were ornamented with a few new numbers: a
35 per cent tax cut for middle-class families with two children, and a
reduced 10 per cent rate for American companies that bring overseas
money back home.
Before
rattling off his policy to-do list, Trump aired more grievances against
the journalism profession and the parade of women who have accused him
of unwanted kissing and groping years – and in some cases decades – ago.
He said after the election, he plans to sue them.
'Every
woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total
fabrication.
The events never happened. Never,' Trump declared.
'All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.'
He
also said he would litigate against the Democratic Party for allegedly
paying saboteurs to start fistfights at his campaign rallies.
That set of
promises was predictably vague, including pledges to 'appoint judges who
will uphold the Constitution,' 'stand up to countries that cheat on
trade' and 'pass massive tax reform to create millions of new jobs.'
But on Saturday, for instance, those vagaries were supplemented by some concrete initiatives.
His
famed wall on the U.S. border got a budget line-item with a proposed
piece of legislation that will fund its construction – 'with the full
understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United
States.'
Trump's
light overtures on tax reform were ornamented with a few new numbers: a
35 per cent tax cut for middle-class families with two children, and a
reduced 10 per cent rate for American companies that bring overseas
money back home.
Before
rattling off his policy to-do list, Trump aired more grievances against
the journalism profession and the parade of women who have accused him
of unwanted kissing and groping years – and in some cases decades – ago.
He said after the election, he plans to sue them.
'Every
woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total
fabrication.
The events never happened. Never,' Trump declared.
'All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.'
He
also said he would litigate against the Democratic Party for allegedly
paying saboteurs to start fistfights at his campaign rallies.
The policy agenda Trump described, a senior campaign aide said Friday night, was far beyond what Democrat Hillary Clinton could put on the table.
She can't articulate her policy goals, the aide said, because her donors haven't yet told her what to think.
'Secretary
Clinton has no core,' the aide charged during a conference call,
quoting a Democratic aide in a hacked email recently released by
WikiLeaks.
'Her
policies are determined by the checks that are given to her, and
nothing else. And of course no one actually disagrees with that.
Everyone understands that she's a special-interest-driven candidate.'
The
aide described Saturday's event as 'our chance to lay out a positive
vision for the country, from Mr. Trump, about what he's going to do in
his first 100 days in office, and how he's going to go about doing it.'
Clinton
won't follow suit – 'she can't even go there' – the aide predicted,
'because she doesn't even know what checks she's going to get between
now and when she would hypothetically be elected.'
The aide promised 'new material' on Saturday but quickly played it coy, saying: 'I don't want to say what it will be.'
'What
you're seeing tomorrow, is Mr. Trump identifying the 10 most important
principles for the first 100 days, and then offering policy solutions to
go with those.'
Trump's Gettysburg address comes with just 17 days to go before the Nov. 8 election.
He and Clinton have debated three times. And, most worrisome for
Republicans, an estimated 4 million Americans have already cast ballots
through early voting programs.
As
the call was going on, Trump himself appeared on the Fox News Channel
with host Sean Hannity to preview Saturday's speech in an equally vague
fashion.
'We're going
to be lowering taxes. We're going to be strengthening our borders,' he
said, remixing buzzword bromides that have been speech staples for
months.
'We're
going to be getting rid of regulations,' Trump continued. 'The
regulations are going to be gone ... we need them for security or we
need them for certain things like the environment, but our regulations
are just taking over our companies. We can't compete anymore.'
'We're
going to be terminating, repealing and replacing Obamacare. We're going
to be saving our Second Amendment, There are a lot of things, Sean.
It's gonna be - I think it's gonna be very special.'
A
second senior campaign aide on Friday night's conference call compared
Trump's promised policy brain-dump to a famous 1994 Republican
congressional gambit responsible in part for the GOP taking over the
lower chamber of Congress after 40 years in the minority.
'I worked on the original "Contract with America" back in the mid-'90s,' that second aide said.
'And
I think the most important aspect from that contract, in addition to
the 10 principles, was the accountability provision – that basically the
Republican candidates in 1994 said, "If we fail to bring these to a
vote in the first 100 days, you can kick us out".
Acknowledging
that 'it's a little bit different when you're the president,' the
second aide said that 'the sentiment will be the same, which is that
changes need to come very rapidly. And progress needs to come very
rapidly.'
The
policy proposals Trump will unveil Saturday, the aide said, 'are not
going to wait until deep into his term, or in his second term.'
The
comparison with the Contract with America could be fraught with
trouble, even though its architect Newt Gingrich is advising Trump's
campaign.
When
Gingrich became Speaker of the House, his rank-and-file pledged to
enact eight budget reforms and bring 10 specific bills to a vote.
The
bills met with varying levels of success: Some became law while others
died in the U.S. Senate or met the business end of President Bill
Clinton's veto pen. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled one was
unconstitutional.
By
2000 the president of the libertarian Cato Institute determined that
the 'Contract' never accomplished what its authors set out to.
'The
combined budgets of the 95 major programs that the Contract with
America promised to eliminate,' Ed Crane wrote, 'have increased by 13%.'
Like
the GOP prior to 1994's electoral takeover, much of Trump's October has
been spent playing defense. But the aide suggested he's jumping back on
offense while the Clinton campaign is trying to coast to victory.
'We're just running two different campaigns in the home stretch,' the aide said.
'They're
going to sit on their lead. They're going to wait out the clock. You
have a lot of folks commenting that she doesn't have to do anything
except show up or not show up.
'We just have a different take on it. We just think that taking the case directly to the voters ... is really the way to go.'
'If
you listen to them out on the stump – Vice President Biden today,
Senator Kaine, President Obama – they're talking most predominantly
about Donald Trump,' the aide said.
'And
Donald Trump wants to talk predominantly about issues that affect
everyday Americans. And that is the difference, and that will continue
to be the difference.'
TRUMP'S LAWS: BILLS HE WOULD PUSH IN HIS FIRST 100 DAYS
1. 'Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act': Economic
plan designed to grow the economy 4 per cent per year and create 25
million new jobs. Involves tax cuts, trade reform, regulatory relief,
lifting restrictions on energy production, and encouraging companies
with offshore funds to bring them back to America.
2. 'End The Offshoring Act': New tariffs on goods brought into the U.S. by American companies that relocate jobs outside the U.S.
3. 'American Energy & Infrastructure Act': Uses public-private partnerships and tax incentives to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years
4. 'School Choice And Education Opportunity Act': Redirects
education dollars to allow parents to choose any public, private,
charter, magnet, religious or home school; ends the 'Common Core'
federal standards; and expands vocational and technical education
5. 'Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act': Replaces
the Affordable Care Act with health savings accounts, removes barriers
to purchasing health insurance across state lines, allows states to
manage Medicaid funds and speeds up drug approval inside the Food and
Drug Administration
6. 'Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act': Provides tax deductions for childcare and elder care and incentivizes employers to provide on-site childcare services
7. 'End Illegal Immigration Act': Funds
a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, 'with the full understanding that the
country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States'; establishes
2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally
re-entering the U.S. after deportation, 5-year mandatory minimum for
felons who illegally re-enter, and 5 years for coming back after
multiple deportations; increases penalties for overstaying visas
8. 'Restoring Community Safety Act': Creates
a Task Force On Violent Crime, increases federal funding of police
forces and boosts federal support for anti-gang prosecutions
9. 'Restoring National Security Act': Eliminates
the federal defense 'sequester' to restore military funding, guarantees
veterans the option of private health care if VA facility wait times
are long, institutes new defenses against cyber-attacks, and establishes
new immigration screening based on 'values'
10. 'Clean up Corruption in Washington Act': Enacts new ethics reforms affecting politicians and their staffers.
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