WARREN, Michigan: President Donald Trump touted what he described as a series of major economic wins and forcefully attacked Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, during a rally in Michigan on Tuesday (Apr 30), an event meant to commemorate his first 100 days in office.
The rally in the politically competitive state, the hub of the US auto industry, was the largest event hosted by the Republican since his Jan 20 inauguration.
Americans have cooled on aspects of Trump’s performance in recent weeks. In particular, people are fretting about Trump’s economic stewardship amid stubborn inflation and his administration’s aggressive moves to slap tariffs on almost every country in the world.
“We had the greatest economy in the history of our country,” Trump said of his first presidency, from 2017-2021. “We did great, and we’re doing better now.”
Trump renewed his criticisms of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, telling the crowd in Warren, which is home to the General Motors Technical Center and located about a dozen miles from downtown Detroit, that the central bank head was not doing a good job.
The event was similar to the rallies Trump has held throughout his political career, on and off the campaign trail. The president slammed “radical left lunatics”, briefly verbally sparred with a heckler, and polled the crowd for their favourite Biden nicknames, despite it being more than three months since the Democrat left office.
Speaking briefly at a National Guard base before the rally, Trump touted his administration’s investments in defence and praised the foreign policy record of his first administration.
“I’ll be supporting a record-setting US$1 trillion investment in our national defence,” said Trump, speaking before dozens of troops, as well as his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Trump told the crowd at the military base in Selfridge that the base would receive 21 Boeing F-15X jets. Whitmer said in a statement that the move secured the base’s mission and was a “huge, bipartisan win for Michigan” that will protect jobs.
