President
Donald
Trump
reacts
to the
song as
he
arrives
at a
rally at
the
Phoenix
Convention
Center,
Tuesday,
Aug. 22,
2017, in
Phoenix.
(Photo:
Alex
Brandon,
AP)
Trump
unshackled:
President
defends
Charlottesville
response
at
raucous
rally
Jeff
Mason
and
Keith
Coffman
Reuters
PHOENIX,
AZ -
U.S.
President
Donald
Trump
revved
up
supporters
on
Tuesday
with a
defense
of his
response
to a
white
supremacist-organized
rally in
Virginia
and a
promise
to shut
down the
U.S.
government
if
necessary
to build
a wall
along
the
border
with
Mexico.
Under
fire for
saying
"both
sides"
were to
blame
for the
violence
between
white
supremacists
and
left-wing
counter
protesters
in
Virginia
on Aug.
12,
Trump
accused
television
networks
of
ignoring
his
calls
for
unity in
the
aftermath.
"I
didn't
say I
love you
because
you're
black,
or I
love you
because
you're
white,"
Trump
said. "I
love all
the
people
of our
country."
Police
used
pepper
spray to
disperse
crowds
after
protesters
threw
rocks
and
bottles
outside
the
convention
center
where
Trump
spoke,
police
said.
Trump,
who
often
uses
news
organizations
as a
foil,
repeatedly
singled
out the
media
for
criticism
of how
it
covered
the
violence
in the
Virginia
college
town of
Charlottesville
and the
resulting
political
fallout.
"These
are
truly
dishonest
people.
They're
bad
people.
I really
think
they
don't
like our
country,"
Trump
said.
"The
only
people
giving a
platform
to these
hate
groups
is the
media."
Adopting
a glib
tone,
Trump
said
many
reporters
ignored
his
condemnation
of white
supremacists,
including
the Ku
Klux
Klan.
"I hit 'em
with
neo-Nazi,
I hit 'em
with
everything
... KKK?
We have
KKK. I
got 'em
all," he
said.
James
Clapper,
a former
director
of U.S.
national
intelligence,
expressed
concern
at
Trump's
performance,
calling
it
"downright
scary
and
disturbing."
"I
question
his
fitness
to be in
office,"
Clapper
told
CNN.
GOVERNMENT
SHUTDOWN
Funding
for the
border
wall has
flagged
in the
U.S.
Congress
as many
lawmakers
question
whether
Trump's
main
promise
during
the 2016
presidential
election
campaign
is
really
necessary.
But with
a budget
battle
looming,
Trump
said he
would be
willing
to risk
a
politically
damaging
government
shutdown
in order
to
secure
funding
for the
wall.
He
visited
the
border
region
in Yuma,
Arizona,
earlier
on
Tuesday.
"If we
have to
close
down our
government,
we're
building
that
wall,"
Trump
said.
"We're
going to
have our
wall.
The
American
people
voted
for
immigration
control.
We're
going to
get that
wall."
With
thousands
of
supporters
cheering
him on,
Trump
also
weighed
in on
another
racially
charged
issue,
hinting
he would
pardon
former
Maricopa
County
Sheriff
Joe
Arpaio.
Arpaio,
85, who
battled
illegal
immigration
in the
Phoenix
area,
was
found
guilty
last
month of
criminal
contempt
for
violating
the
terms of
a 2011
court
order in
a racial
profiling
case.
NAFTA,
NORTH
KOREA
Trump
covered
the
gamut of
issues,
from
NAFTA
trade
talks to
the U.S.
showdown
with
North
Korea,
during a
raucous,
rambling
and
defiant
political
speech
lasting
an hour
and 15
minutes.
He said
he might
terminate
the
NAFTA
treaty
with
Mexico
and
Canada
to
jumpstart
negotiations,
and said
the
standoff
with
North
Korea
over its
weapons
programs
might
have
taken a
positive
turn.
However,
it was
unclear
whether
the
speech
would
help lay
the
foundation
for a
comeback
from the
deep
political
crisis
Trump
finds
himself
in after
only
seven
months
in
office
and an
approval
rating
below 40
percent.
He
expressed
frustration
that the
Republican-controlled
Congress
was
unable
to
approve
healthcare
legislation
that
failed
to pass
the
Senate
by one
vote
last
month.
One of
the
votes
against
the
legislation
was cast
by
Republican
Senator
John
McCain
of
Arizona,
who was
recently
diagnosed
with
brain
cancer.
Without
mentioning
their
names,
Trump
criticized
both
McCain
and his
fellow
Arizona
Republican,
Senator
Jeff
Flake.
Neither
McCain
nor
Flake
attended
the
event.
Trump
complained
repeatedly
about
the "one
vote"
that
stopped
the
Senate
from
repealing
and
replacing
Obamacare,
the
signature
domestic
policy
of his
predecessor,
Barack
Obama.
"One
vote
away. I
will not
mention
any
names -
very
presidential.
And
nobody
wants me
to
mention
your
other
senator,
who's
weak on
border,
weak on
crime.
Nobody
knows
who the
hell he
is! See,
I
haven't
mentioned
any
names,
so now
everybody's
happy,"
he said.
"SHERIFF
JOE"
The
White
House
had said
earlier
when
asked
about
Arpaio
that
"there
will be
no
discussion
of that
today."
That did
not stop
Trump
from
raising
the
subject.
"Do the
people
in this
room
like
Sheriff
Joe?"
Trump
asked,
sparking
loud
applause
and a
chant of
"Pardon
Joe!"
"Was
Sheriff
Joe
convicted
for
doing
his
job?"
Trump
asked,
before
predicting
that
Arpaio
would be
just
fine. "I
won't do
it
tonight
because
I don't
want to
cause
any
controversy.
But
Sheriff
Joe can
feel
good,"
he said.
Trump
drew
broad
criticism
for
blaming
both
white
nationalists
and
counter-protesters
for the
deadly
violence
at the
Charlottesville
rally,
which
was
organized
by
neo-Nazis
and
white
supremacists.
One
woman
was
killed.
He
mocked
left-wing
protesters
in his
speech.
Protesters
outside
Tuesday's
rally
yelled:
"Shame,
shame,
shame"
and "No
Trump,
No KKK,
No
fascist
USA" as
the
Trump
supporters
began
filing
into the
Phoenix
Convention
Center.
Supporters,
who
lined up
for
hours in
the
Arizona
heat
ahead of
the
event,
chanted:
"Build
the
wall."
Many
wore red
hats
with
Trump's
campaign
slogan,
"Make
America
Great
Again."
Trump
has held
a series
of 2020
re-election
campaign
stops
despite
only
having
taken
office
in
January.
Phoenix
Mayor
Greg
Stanton,
a
Democrat,
had
asked
him to
postpone
Tuesday's
event
while
the
nation
healed
from
outrage
and
division
after
the
deadly
rally in
Charlottesville.
A heavy
police
presence
was
deployed
around
the
Phoenix
venue
for
Trump's
first
trip as
president
to
Arizona,
which he
won in
the 2016
election.