Trump skips D.C. dinner for 100th-day rally in Pennsylvania.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — On the 100th day, the president had fun. He zipped up to the nearest Rust Belt state full of the forgotten men and women who put him into office. He bashed the bad guys of the media and Hollywood and the swamp he’d left behind. He promised jobs and greatness. It was like last year again, all lusty cheers and smiling faces, a refreshing tonic after three months of stubborn lawmakers, naysaying judges, carping protesters, frenetic days and lonely nights.
Donald Trump could have stayed home and had dinner with 2,700 card-carrying members of the Washington elite, many of whom make their living inspecting his every move for missteps, most of whom probably didn’t vote for him. But he said no to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which took place without him Saturday and became a night of journalists, if not Hollywood stars, celebrating the First Amendment.
Trump spent Saturday night in Harrisburg, a town he’d described during the campaign as hollowed-out — “just rotting … It’s just a war zone.”
This time, he called it “a wonderful, beautiful” place. He soaked in the love of Harrisburg, people who’d waited as long as 13 hours for the chance to tell their president they have his back.
From the top, Trump touted his decision to spurn the dinner in Washington and instead commune with his people in Pennsylvania. “A large group of Hollywood celebrities” — big boos — “and Washington media” — another wave of boos — “are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom,” he said. “I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington swamp … with much, much better people.”
Trump ran through a long list of actions he’s taken so far, and he defended some of his decisions to back away from campaign promises. It’s true, he said, that he hasn’t declared China a currency manipulator as he said he would, but “we have to have a little flexibility.” He said he’d asked China’s president to “help us out with North Korea,” and he couldn’t very well then say, “but by the way, you’re manipulating
your currency. Doesn’t work that way. Do you agree?”
They did. They still believe he will “Make America Great Again,” and many in the crowd of about 7,000 people in an almost-full Farm Show Complex and Expo Center arena, wore their red campaign caps to show it. They dressed to express their commitment, wearing shirts that said “Deplorable Lives Matter” and “Trump — Finally Someone With Balls” and “Built Trump Tough.”
“Lock her up!” the crowd chanted spontaneously, again and again. They were families and young couples and old folks, lifelong Republicans and people who’d never voted for a Republican before, an almost entirely white audience, and they danced to Trump’s trademark soundtrack of ’60s and ’70s pop hits, and they chanted “Build that wall.”
“Don’t worry, we’re going to have the wall,” Trump said. “Don’t even worry about it. … Rest assured. Go home, go to sleep.”
And they seemed OK with that. They want the wall, many people said. But they don’t blame Trump for backing away from a threat to insist that funding for a wall be included in any agreement to keep the government functioning.
Trump said just what the crowd was hoping for. He will build it. He will replace and repeal. He could speak in shorthand here. He didn’t need to answer pesky questions about whether he’d had to acknowledge complexity where he once saw black and white.
“He’s relentless, unfaltering,” said Wes Black, 21, a student at Shippensburg University. “He’ll keep his promises. I don’t worry about him backing down on the wall. I’m most worried that Donald Trump eats his steaks extra well done and with ketchup. The rest, he can take care of.”
Earlier in the day, Trump visited the AMES Companies in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland County, a shovel manufacturer since 1774, and signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative to study of U.S. trade agreements. The goal is to determine whether America is being treated fairly by its trading partners and the 164-nation World Trade Organization.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.