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 In a 14-minute speech that had been billed as a major national
security address, the real estate mogul chose a stage with the
decommissioned battleship USS Iowa as a backdrop.
But he made only glancing references to Iran and did not mention the
Islamic State group once. Instead, he used the venue to drive his
crusade against illegal immigration and appeal to veterans, one day
before the second televised debate between Republican contenders for
the November 2016 election.
"We have illegal immigrants that are treated better, by far, than
our veterans. That’s not going to happen anymore,” he said on a
stage in front of three 16-inch guns on the battleship that was
commissioned during World War II. It was donated to the city of Los
Angeles three years ago and has since become a museum.
"We're going to create a whole new system. We're going to take this
system apart," Trump vowed.
"And if they're not doing their job, the veterans are going to go to
private doctors, private hospitals. We're going to reimburse those
doctors and those hospitals, and you're going to get the greatest
service of any veterans in any country because you deserve it."
The Republican frontrunner has been championing veterans on the
campaign trail, even challenging CNN, the host of Wednesday's
debate, to donate to veterans groups the network’s profits from the
steep increase in advertising rates charged during the program.
Trump won the endorsement of the Veterans for a Strong America, a
tax-exempt advocacy organization, which claims more than 500,000
members and that was the sponsor of Tuesday's event.
Its chairman, Joel Arends, offered the group’s support, saying he
thought it was time for a president with courage who would take a
stand for veterans.
Trump said he neither expected nor asked for the endorsement, but
added: “I will say this, I am with the veterans 100 percent. They’re
our greatest people. They’re being treated terribly.”
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As he was introduced, a group of protesters shouted complaints from
outside a fence surrounding the museum's parking lot.
“We have people protesting us. I think we’re doing something right
here folks,” Arends said.
But others attending the event, including a 60-year-old Latino
pharmaceutical salesman, said he may vote for Trump because he wants
the problem of illegal immigration addressed.
“At what point do we try to solve this issue? Eleven million people,
22 million, 44 million? What’s the number at which the nation will
deal with this?”
Tickets for the event cost $100 for general admission, $250 for
preferred seating and up to $1,000 for a seat in front of the
podium, although veterans with valid identification were allowed in
for free.
For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, “Tales
from the Trail” (http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/).
(Editing by Ken Wills)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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