Trump aims to "regain his footing" at Mar-a-Lago
The former president has reaffirmed his commitment to participate in one debate and has proposed the addition of two more debates.
TroibNews 
PALM BEACH, Florida — Donald Trump is behaving like a candidate who is trailing behind in the race.
The former president conceded on Thursday that his opponent, Kamala Harris, is gaining momentum, with one adviser noting her opportunity to appeal to undecided voters. Harris is currently out-fundraising Trump and leading in some key battleground state polls.
Despite his dismissive prediction that “the honeymoon period’s going to end” soon for Harris, Trump made moves to engage her directly, in an effort to shake up the race.
After initially backing out of a debate with Harris on ABC last week, Trump recommitted to the debate and proposed adding two more. Speaking to reporters at the mostly empty Mar-a-Lago club for over an hour, he criticized Harris as “incompetent” and incapable of managing her own press conference, warning of potential “world war” if he does not return to office, and chastised the media for their coverage of Harris, particularly the size of her rally crowds.
“I think I’m going to do well with everybody, especially when the facts are right,” Trump said, surrounded by gold-adorned ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and a quartet of American flags. A Mar-a-Lago club sign was fixed to his podium rather than a Trump campaign sign.
The press conference, along with discussions Trump’s advisers had with reporters earlier that day, marked an attempt to reset a campaign that has struggled since Harris entered the race on July 21. This lengthy press conference contrasted sharply with Harris’ approach, as she has not given similar access since leading the ticket. It also highlighted their different strategies: Harris aims to maintain the race’s current course, while Trump tries to undermine her.
“I think she’s crashing. I think when people find out, and I think people are starting to find out what a bad job she did,” Trump said, before shifting to Harris and President Joe Biden’s record on the southern border and the importance of debates. “So I just look forward to these debates. I think it’s very important that we have them. I hope she agrees to them.”
He dismissed a question about whether he was campaigning enough, considering Harris’ recent rise in momentum.
“What a stupid question, because I’m leading by a lot,” Trump said, explaining that he was “letting their convention go through” while doing extensive taping for videos, ads, and radio interviews.
Trump’s schedule includes a rally in Montana and fundraisers out west this weekend but no other public campaign events this week, while Harris is on a five-day tour of battleground states, a schedule that Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, is matching.
After learning that national reporters were gathering nearby in West Palm Beach for a briefing with his campaign staff, Trump, who usually does not spend his summers in the hot and humid Florida coast where his club is closed, told advisers he wanted to make an appearance, a senior campaign official stated.
The resulting event was classic Trump. In a freewheeling, solo press conference, he spent little time on Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, instead focusing on various topics. He criticized Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, repeated his assertion that Jewish Harris supporters should “have their head examined,” mentioned his positive relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, and compared his rally crowd sizes to those seen during Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Trump claimed to have 107,000 people at a New Jersey rally and that his Jan. 6, 2021, crowd was larger than King's, which drew immediate backlash for being inconsistent with crowd size estimates.
“Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me,” Trump told reporters. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours… we actually had more people.”
He continued to express frustration over the altered dynamics of the race, alleging that Democrats had effectively replaced Biden.
“We were given Joe Biden, and now we’re given somebody else,” he said.
At times, Trump struggled to hear reporters’ questions, echoing issues from a National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago the previous month.
As in Chicago, Trump continued to criticize Harris’ intelligence, alleging it was worse than Biden’s. He also did not back down from questioning Harris’ racial identity, claiming it was “disrespectful.”
“I think it’s very disrespectful to both, whether it’s Indian or Black,” Trump said when challenged on how Harris could have only recently embraced her Black identity. “I think it’s very disrespectful. To me, it doesn’t matter.”
He also criticized her avoidance of press interviews, interpreting it as a sign of weakness.
Harris has not given an interview since June, weeks before her candidacy announcement, and faces increasing pressure to do so.
“She’s not doing any news conference,” Trump said. “You know why she’s not doing a news conference? She doesn’t know how to do a news conference. She’s not smart enough to do a news conference, and I’m sorry. We need smart people to lead this country.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump hinted at holding more press conferences in the future. When asked about his stance on upcoming Florida ballot initiatives, including a measure to expand abortion access, he indicated he would hold a press conference “at some point in the near future” to announce his position.
If elected, Trump promised frequent press conferences from his administration but stopped short of committing to daily briefings.
“You’d get tired of me very fast,” Trump stated. “But I will give you total access, and you’ll have a lot of press briefings, and you’ll have them from me.”
Lucas Dupont contributed to this report for TROIB News
The former president conceded on Thursday that his opponent, Kamala Harris, is gaining momentum, with one adviser noting her opportunity to appeal to undecided voters. Harris is currently out-fundraising Trump and leading in some key battleground state polls.
Despite his dismissive prediction that “the honeymoon period’s going to end” soon for Harris, Trump made moves to engage her directly, in an effort to shake up the race.
After initially backing out of a debate with Harris on ABC last week, Trump recommitted to the debate and proposed adding two more. Speaking to reporters at the mostly empty Mar-a-Lago club for over an hour, he criticized Harris as “incompetent” and incapable of managing her own press conference, warning of potential “world war” if he does not return to office, and chastised the media for their coverage of Harris, particularly the size of her rally crowds.
“I think I’m going to do well with everybody, especially when the facts are right,” Trump said, surrounded by gold-adorned ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and a quartet of American flags. A Mar-a-Lago club sign was fixed to his podium rather than a Trump campaign sign.
The press conference, along with discussions Trump’s advisers had with reporters earlier that day, marked an attempt to reset a campaign that has struggled since Harris entered the race on July 21. This lengthy press conference contrasted sharply with Harris’ approach, as she has not given similar access since leading the ticket. It also highlighted their different strategies: Harris aims to maintain the race’s current course, while Trump tries to undermine her.
“I think she’s crashing. I think when people find out, and I think people are starting to find out what a bad job she did,” Trump said, before shifting to Harris and President Joe Biden’s record on the southern border and the importance of debates. “So I just look forward to these debates. I think it’s very important that we have them. I hope she agrees to them.”
He dismissed a question about whether he was campaigning enough, considering Harris’ recent rise in momentum.
“What a stupid question, because I’m leading by a lot,” Trump said, explaining that he was “letting their convention go through” while doing extensive taping for videos, ads, and radio interviews.
Trump’s schedule includes a rally in Montana and fundraisers out west this weekend but no other public campaign events this week, while Harris is on a five-day tour of battleground states, a schedule that Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, is matching.
After learning that national reporters were gathering nearby in West Palm Beach for a briefing with his campaign staff, Trump, who usually does not spend his summers in the hot and humid Florida coast where his club is closed, told advisers he wanted to make an appearance, a senior campaign official stated.
The resulting event was classic Trump. In a freewheeling, solo press conference, he spent little time on Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, instead focusing on various topics. He criticized Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, repeated his assertion that Jewish Harris supporters should “have their head examined,” mentioned his positive relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, and compared his rally crowd sizes to those seen during Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Trump claimed to have 107,000 people at a New Jersey rally and that his Jan. 6, 2021, crowd was larger than King's, which drew immediate backlash for being inconsistent with crowd size estimates.
“Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me,” Trump told reporters. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours… we actually had more people.”
He continued to express frustration over the altered dynamics of the race, alleging that Democrats had effectively replaced Biden.
“We were given Joe Biden, and now we’re given somebody else,” he said.
At times, Trump struggled to hear reporters’ questions, echoing issues from a National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago the previous month.
As in Chicago, Trump continued to criticize Harris’ intelligence, alleging it was worse than Biden’s. He also did not back down from questioning Harris’ racial identity, claiming it was “disrespectful.”
“I think it’s very disrespectful to both, whether it’s Indian or Black,” Trump said when challenged on how Harris could have only recently embraced her Black identity. “I think it’s very disrespectful. To me, it doesn’t matter.”
He also criticized her avoidance of press interviews, interpreting it as a sign of weakness.
Harris has not given an interview since June, weeks before her candidacy announcement, and faces increasing pressure to do so.
“She’s not doing any news conference,” Trump said. “You know why she’s not doing a news conference? She doesn’t know how to do a news conference. She’s not smart enough to do a news conference, and I’m sorry. We need smart people to lead this country.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump hinted at holding more press conferences in the future. When asked about his stance on upcoming Florida ballot initiatives, including a measure to expand abortion access, he indicated he would hold a press conference “at some point in the near future” to announce his position.
If elected, Trump promised frequent press conferences from his administration but stopped short of committing to daily briefings.
“You’d get tired of me very fast,” Trump stated. “But I will give you total access, and you’ll have a lot of press briefings, and you’ll have them from me.”
Lucas Dupont contributed to this report for TROIB News
