Former President Trump on Wednesday addressed supporters in North Carolina from behind bulletproof glass in his first outdoor campaign event since being grazed by a bullet in an assassination attempt.
The former president and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), spoke in Asheboro as part of a week-long visit to battleground states to counter the Democratic National Convention.
The Trump campaign declined to comment on specific additional security measures.
Bulletproof glass was fitted on both sides of the stage, and storage containers were stacked near the stage to block views from far away.
At one point, Trump left the stage to check on an audience member with a health issue.
Wednesday’s event was billed as focused on national security, but like President Trump’s other policy-focused events this week, he delivered at times incoherent rhetoric, complaining about revisions to the jobs report and attacking President Biden and the Obamas for their convention speeches.
He slammed President Biden and Vice President Harris over the tragic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, during which 13 U.S. soldiers were killed.
Trump said he would call for the resignation of “every senior military official involved in the disaster in Afghanistan.”
And he repeated his claim that he alone could end the escalating conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“From the moment I take the oath of office and take my hands off the Bible, I will work to restore America to its greatest strength and bring the world back to peace,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring the world back to peace, and we can do it, almost with just a phone call.”
It was Trump’s first outdoor rally since July 13, when he was shot in the ear while speaking at an event in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman and one rally attendee were killed, and Trump wore a bandage over his ear for weeks after the shooting while the wound healed.
Lawmakers have set up a bipartisan task force to investigate security failings surrounding the assassination attempt.
Trump has said he plans to return to Butler for another rally.
