GOP frontrunner Donald Trump flew in “top gun” style on Trump Force One over the Dubuque, Iowa airport, where his first of three campaign rallies took place Saturday afternoon.
Donald Trump's plane does a fly by before landing in Dubuque, shot by Jim @Acosta pic.twitter.com/uYcoArR9tN
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) January 30, 2016
The plane whizzed by his supporters and then pulled up directly in front of the crowd of roughly one thousand people where Trump exited the plane and took the stage.
“This turned out to be about ten times bigger than we thought,” Trump said to the roughly one thousand in attendance. “This is now crunch time…we have to get out there and caucus …or we’ve all wasted our time folks.”
“This is a movement,” the real estate mogul stated.
Trump said he decided to run for president because “our country is going to hell” – and that, “No matter where we go, we have the biggest crowds!”
“I go from establishment to non-establishment in about two minutes,” he joked, referencing how he believes he’s been treated differently since launching his campaign.
“We have a movement like [there’s] never been,” he added, but encouraged voters to caucus, saying, “Unless I win, I would consider it…a waste of time.”
Trump told his supporters, “It’s a ‘we,’ not an ‘I’ – we will make this country so strong!”
“I’m thinking about buying a farm,” in Iowa. “I love it. I love the people,” he added.
.@realDonaldTrump invited children at Dubuque rally to tour his plane, & after event, 1-2 dozen kids did just that pic.twitter.com/uNNf6lo6KJ
— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayCNN) January 30, 2016
Trump invited children under 10-years-old to run through his plane. “The kids won’t damage it, but the parents will,” Trump joked.
“They’re getting a new Air Force One,” Trump told the audience, referencing President Obama and adding that it’s expected to cost $3 billion. “Seems like an awful lot of money, doesn’t it?”
“Let’s let him have it,” Trump said. “We can do better. We can negotiate cheaper.”
Trump invited Dubuque kids to 'run through the plane' – and so they did. pic.twitter.com/06zgW1ngqK
— Michael Finnegan (@finneganLAT) January 30, 2016
Trump touted his deal-making ability throughout the speech, saying he is a great negotiator and can be tough with foreign countries.
Trump said when he is President of the United States, the country will “only make great deals.”
“We’re losing on trade,” he explained, adding that the country is also losing on Obamacare, which he says he will repeal and replace. Trump also said he would build a strong military that is prepared to defeat ISIS.
Trump criticized former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on the Iraq war, saying that he was opposed to it, but “[Bush] didn’t know what to say…took him six days before he figured out the right answer.”
Trump then moved on to take a swipe at Hillary Clinton, saying it is “hard to believe” the government isn’t penalizing her for her private server and the email scandal.
He also included Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in his criticism, again bringing up the fact that Cruz – although born to a U.S. citizen – was born in Canada.
“He was born in Canada,” Trump charged. “How the hell can he run for president?”
Trump bashed politicians in Washington – even those in the Republican Party.
“They funded the migration coming in,” Trump said of the more than trillion-dollar omnibus spending bill, adding, “including Planned Parenthood, you saw that.”
“It’s disappointing to me,” he said about being let down by the politicians. “They get to Washington, they don’t do anything!”
“They say, ‘Darling, we’ve arrived,” Trump joked, referencing congressmen getting to Washington D.C. with their wives and looking at the Capitol’s columns and beautiful paintings, but he added, they later turn into a “basket case.”
He vowed that’s “not going to happen with me.”
Protesters only interrupted the event one time, to which the crowd of Trump supporters started chanting, “U-S-A, U-S-A,” to drown out the protesters.
Trump even drew a female Democrat to the rally who is looking for an alternative candidate to Hillary Clinton.
“Woman at Trump rally tells me she’s a Democrat, but dislikes Hillary, and is caucusing for Trump on Monday. So, yeah,” The Huffington Post’s associate political editor Igor Bobic tweeted before Trump began to speak, estimating roughly one thousand people were at the rally.
Trump exited the rally, telling the crowd, “Lets have a big beautiful victory Monday night!”
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