Donald Trump, JD Vance address national security at event in Asheboro
ASHEBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Former President Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance spoke at an event in North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon.
The event was held at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame in Asheboro. It was Trump's first outdoor campaign event away from one of his properties since the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman tried to assassinate him.
Trump's podium at the event was surrounded by bulletproof glass panes forming a protective wall across the stage. Storage containers were stacked around the perimeter to create additional walls and block sight lines. Snipers were positioned on rooftops at the venue, where old aircraft sat behind the podium and a large American flag was suspended from cranes.
Trump and Vance both focused on topics regarding national security.
The Republican ticket criticized the Biden-Harris administration's handling of international affairs, including the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan that saw 13 American service members killed and the Ukraine-Russia war.
"The world is on fire, and Kamala and Biden have marched us to the brink of World War III," Trump said.
A new report from ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos Polls amongst registered voters found they believed Trump was better equipped to handle the Israel-Hamas war, favoring him by 5 points.
During his remarks, Trump vowed to enhance military capabilities -
"We will increase funding, but at the same time, the days of blank checks for the weapons systems over the past are over," Trump said. "I'll tell you what we will build, we're going to build a great iron dome over our country so that we don't have to get hit. We give it to other countries. We help Israel and other countries."
Iron Dome is a missile defense system long used by Israel to protect itself from attacks.
WATCH: JD Vance talks to ABC11 while in North Carolina
Trump brought on stage national security advisers such as Gen. Keith Kellogg and law enforcement officers from the Randolph County Sheriff's Office, as well as North Carolina native RNC Chairman Michael Whatley.
But after greeting them and shaking their hands on stage, Trump immediately blasted the Biden-Harris administration in the wake of news that their administration had admitted inflating jobs numbers -- calling the numbers a "massive scandal" and a "total lie."
"Before we begin, I want to address the massive scandal around the revised job numbers that were just announced this morning ... It's a total lie. Total lie ... They wanted it to come out after the election, but somehow it got leaked. It got leaked," Trump said.
The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported, the government said Wednesday morning.
The revised total added to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve's plan to start cutting interest rates soon. Job growth averaged 174,000 a month in the 12 months that ended in March - a drop of 68,000 a month from the 242,000 that were initially reported.
Final numbers are expected to be issued in February next year.
"Government leaks to the Harris Biden administration have been caught fraudulently manipulating job statistics to hide the true extent of the economic ruin that they've inflicted on America," Trump said, seizing on the news. "The new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the administration padded the numbers with an extra listen to this one 818,000 jobs that don't exist. So they said they existed and they never did exist. They built them up so that they could say what a wonderful job they're doing."
Before Trump arrived, his plane did a flyover of the rally site. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Lisa Watts, a retired business owner from Hickory who was attending her fifth Trump rally, said she's feeling "very positive" about the race and was critical of the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
"A month ago they never spoke her name and now she's like, quote quote the 'savior for the country,'" Watts said of Harris. "I don't think that her record proves that she is ready to run this country."
Watts said she doesn't think Trump's chances of winning are much different now from when President Joe Biden was the Democratic nominee.
"I think the Democrats are going to try to do everything they can to keep her up on that pedestal," she said, predicting the hype around Harris will fade.
The border has been at the forefront of this campaign's messaging as Trump and Vance look to establish a contrast on an issue they believe resonates with voters.
According to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos Poll, 70% of registered voters described immigration as important in their vote, saying they believe the former President would better handle security on the southern border compared to Harris - favoring him by 10 points.
"I hear they want to have open borders. And I thought they were kidding. Who the hell wants open borders? And then they said, we'll give you healthcare," Trump said.
This week, US authorities reported that border arrests along the Mexico border dropped 33% last month, the lowest figure since September 2020, after new asylum restrictions were put in place.
This comes as Democrats seek to place the blame on Republicans - accusing them of refusing to agree to legislation on the issue for politically motivated reasons.
Before the rally, ABC11 asked Vance how they would approach hostage negotiations including freeing North Carolina native Keith Siegel.
"We just need to re-establish deterrence, right? People need to know if you cross the United States, the United States is going to use its awesome power to go after them," Vance said. "If we don't have that, none of our citizens are going to be safe."
This is the second time Trump has visited North Carolina in a week. He made a stop in Asheville on Aug. 14 where he focused much of his remarks on his plans for the economy
Trump also visited the state last month during a rally in Charlotte where he marked his first public campaign event since Biden dropped out of the 2024 matchup and Harris became the Democrats' likely nominee.
Trump won North Carolina by a comfortable margin in 2016. The state delivered the former president his closest statewide margin of victory four years ago and is once again considered a key battleground in 2024.
North Carolina continues to be a hot spot for both campaigns to visit. Harris was most recently in the state Aug. 16 when she unveiled some details of her economic policy.
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
