Donald Trump, the real estate/reality TV mogul and current Republican frontrunner in the 2016 presidential primary, is holding a campaign rally Friday evening in Mobile, Alabama to a crowd of tens of thousands. Check out live updates from Breitbart News from this event.
10:42 PM EST: Photos of the event are hitting the wires:
9:52 PM EST: Early estimates put the size of the crowd between 20 and 30 thousand people, which wasn’t enough to fill up the stadium. Check out more scenes from around the rally:
9:31 PM EST: Several reporters say Trump is skipping a press conference originally scheduled for after the speech. He leaves the stadium with Jeff Sessions in his convoy of SUVs.
9:20 PM EST: No updates from Trump’s social media accounts through the speech–it’s all The Donald!
9:17 PM EST: In closing, Trump promises that in his campaign to make America great again, “we’re gonna have a lot of fun doing it.” Leaves the stage to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
9:16 PM EST: Trump attacks Obama for failing to unite the country and sapping the people’s “spirit.” Says he expected him to be a great cheerleader for the country when he was first elected. Trump vows to end declarations that “the American Dream is dead.”
9:15 PM EST: America will not only be strong under President Trump but it will also be “loved.”
9:14 PM EST: Trump singles out “women’s health issues.” Says his wife Melania thinks it’s “sad” that people don’t know how much he “cherishes” women.
9:13 PM EST: Ties ObamaCare to his campaign theme of special interests: names insurance companies as the primary beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act. Vows to erase “artificial barriers” on health coverage.
9:12 PM EST: Trump isolates 2 main criticisms of the Iran deal. 1) Why aren’t they giving us back our prisoners? 2) Iran is going to do its own policing and “tell us, ‘we swear we’re not building anything.’ It’s so sad.”
9:11 PM EST: Says we’ve let down Israel with the Iran deal. “They relied on us, they’re a voice of sanity, they’re great people, and we make a deal–” says Kerry breaking his leg in a bike crash was the only good part of that deal.
9:09 PM EST: Trump proposes a 35% tariff on goods from Mexico to push companies to move their manufacturing to the U.S.
9:07 PM EST: Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it diss of racing horse Secretariat!
9:06 PM EST: Trump, impressed with the number of live cameras present, says the media is less popular than Congress because of its dishonesty. Mentions that journalists have started treating him “much better” than since the beginning of his campaign.
9:05 PM EST: Trump says a woman told him she wasn’t sure if he was nice enough to be president. Responds: This is not going to be an election based on a nice person but a competent person. “We’re tired of the nice people.”
9:04 PM EST: “For 35 years, these Senators–other than Jeff [Sessions], of course… they have done nothing for the vets [veterans].”
9:03 PM EST: “I will rebuild our military. It will be so strong and powerful and so great. It will be so powerful and so great that we’ll never have to use it–nobody’s gonna mess with us.”
9:02 PM EST: Trump says he doesn’t have his own pollster. “Why do I need a pollster when every day there’s a new poll?” Says he saves money and doesn’t need pollsters to tell him what he can and can’t say.
9:00 PM EST: Trump brings up Nabisco moving its plants from America to Mexico: “I love Oreos; I’ll never eat ’em again.”
8:57 PM EST: References a manufacturer friend who doesn’t like doing business with China–mentions huge tariff on U.S. imports to the PRC.
8:55 PM EST: Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to blood coming out of Megyn Kelly’s eyes!
8:52 PM EST: Trump praises Japanese PM Shinzo Abe as a very smart leader, says Caroline Kennedy is totally outclassed in negotiations with Japan. Says he knows strong negotiators who could do much better than people like Kennedy, who says she took the job of Ambassador on a lark. “They’re killers. They’re negotiators.”
8:51 PM EST: Trump says of Democrats in power: he doesn’t think they’re bad people. They’re just incompetent.
8:50 PM EST: In a discussion of foreign steel manufacturing, Trump takes a few seconds to compliment a sign in the crowd. Doesn’t read it back to those of us watching.
8:49 PM EST: Says that his family will manage his company now and he will devote his whole self to public service. “I just want to make this country so great, and that’s what’s gonna happen.”
8:47 PM EST: Trump brings up his financial disclosures–net worth and income. Ties it to his support–that people want him to run because of his personal ability: “Whatever it is, I know how to do things.”
8:43 PM EST: We are now on to Macy’s. Trump says that, contrary to mockery that he was just teasing about a presidential run, he has suffered damage to his “brand” because of his stand on immigration. Says it’s not fair for NBC and Univision to have taken away opportunity from Miss USA pageant contestants. Of the lawsuits against the latter: “I sued ’em for 500 million dollars; I want that money!”
8:41 PM EST: Trump takes a quick detour to mention the news networks covering his speech live. “Who here likes Fox? I like Fox… [an olive branch!] CNN?… MSNBC?” Boos grow progressively louder.
8:39 PM EST: Trump says of various deals with foreign countries, “We get nothing”–including when U.S. troops are deployed to defend places like South Korea.
8:37 PM EST: Trump finds someone in the crowd holding his book The Art of the Deal. Says John Kerry and Barack Obama clearly haven’t read it, based on the Iran nuclear deal. In discussion of negotiations with foreign countries, mentions that he found an American manufacturer for his red campaign slogan hats.
8:36 PM EST: Trump daydreams about taking lobbyist money and doing nothing in return. Says of favors asked once in office, : “I’m not doing it unless it’s good and unless it’s gonna make America great again.”
8:34 PM EST: Trump does some crowing about his lead in the polls–especially Florida, where he leads Bush and Rubio. Says that if this were another country, we could call for an expedited election. “I would love that.”
8:33 PM EST: Sessions gives a quick greeting to Trump. Says of his immigration proposal: “I’m really impressed with your plan; I know it will make a difference.”
8:31 PM EST: Trump gets raucous applause by inviting Jeff Sessions on stage, citing their collaboration on immigration policy. “He’s been so spot-on–he’s so highly respected. Has anybody ever heard of Senator Jeff Sessions?” As Sessions walks up, compliments his energy: “He’s like 20 years old.”
8:30 PM EST: Trump gets right into birthright citizenship. “The 14th Amendment, you can do something with it and you can do something fast.” Says 300,000 children are born every year that get birthright citizenship whose parents are not citizens and says America is stupid to allow that when other countries–like Mexico–do not.
8:28 PM EST: Trump: “The politicians, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, they all said they wanted a wall.” Now, he suggests, lobbyists have dissuaded them. Says Hillary Clinton has $60 million, Jeb Bush has $100+ million, suggesting they’re bought and paid for. Takes a little pride in Bush using the term “anchor baby.” Mentions the latest info in Hillary’s email scandal.
8:25 PM EST: Trump recounts the illegal immigration fight that sprang from his campaign kickoff speech. Cites Rush Limbaugh saying that he took intense incoming fire, then says “two weeks later everybody was apologizing to me.”
8:24 PM EST: First words out of his mouth: “Wow wow wow. Unbelievable. Unbelievable!” … “Now I know how the great Billy Graham felt.”
8:23 PM EST: Trump takes the stage to “Sweet Home Alabama.” He is wearing his red “Make America Great Again” ball cap.
8:08 PM EST: As the crowd awaits Trump, a few more pics of attendees and their arrival.
8:05 PM EST: Several local figures endorse Trump at the main podium. One speaker refers to the Trump phenomenon as “an avalanche of patriotism.”
8:02 PM EST: As the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem are performed, Trump arrives at the stadium with police escort.
7:58 PM EST: Invocation pulling references from all over the Bible, reverend says times are tough but “there is hope in Mobile.”
7:53 PM EST: Warmup band jamming.
7:49 PM EST: Video stream is LIVE–watch at Breitbart News.
7:46 PM EST: More crowd shots:
7:37 PM EST: Another plane appears with a heckling message from Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise PAC.
7:19 PM EST: An all-American crowd.
7:13 PM EST: In Trump-esque fashion, the billionaire’s 757 jet flies over the Ladd-Peebles Stadium, much to the audience’s delight.
7:11 PM EST: To start of the rally, a group of students will recite the Pledge of Allegiance.