Trump, Tariffs and Immigration Talk, Mobilizes Small Wisconsin Supporters – News

Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump holds a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, US on Saturday. – Reutes

Donald Trump vowed Saturday in Wisconsin to impose unprecedented tariffs and crack down on immigrants he says are stealing jobs and killing Americans, as he sought to shore up support among white working-class and rural people, a key part of his base.

Speaking at a regional airport in Mosinee, a town of about 4,500 people, the Republican presidential candidate warned that even allies like the European Union would face new trade restrictions if he wins the Nov. 5 election against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

He repeatedly portrayed migrants as a grave danger to Wisconsin, warning without evidence that immigrants in the country illegally could evict local residents from their homes.

“Crime is sky high, and you haven’t seen the immigrant crime yet,” Trump said. “It started, and it’s vicious, but you haven’t seen the magnitude of it.”

Trump also warned, as he has at previous rallies, that the 2024 election could be the country’s last.

Support for the former president declined among most segments of the population over the summer after his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

Nationally, Harris leads Trump among Hispanic voters by 13 percentage points, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted in August; Biden led that demographic by just five points in May. Among black Americans, she outperforms Biden by seven points.

But she has barely moved the needle among white voters, the same polls show. Whites without college degrees, long the linchpin of Trump’s coalition, still give him a 25-point lead, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. They gave Trump a 29-point lead when he ran against Biden.

Several of Trump’s advisers and allies have told Reuters in recent weeks that preserving election margins and increasing turnout among white working-class people is critical if he is to defeat Harris.

That’s especially true in the northern “Rust Belt” states, including Wisconsin, which are predominantly white and have large rural populations. Trump won the presidency in 2016 in part by winning these areas on a promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to the region.

“We are not going to stand by and watch our wealth and jobs be taken from us and shipped overseas, and Wisconsin will benefit the most from that,” Trump said of his proposed trade policy.

Mosinee, where Trump spoke on Saturday, is near Wausau, a town of about 40,000 people, but within hours of the state’s largest population centers, Milwaukee and Madison.

Marathon County, where Mosinee is located, used to be a politically competitive area. In 2008, the county voted for Democrat Barack Obama. Since then, the county has moved to the right, favoring Trump in 2016 and 2020, both times by about 18 points.

While the Trump campaign has identified Hispanics and black men as growth areas for the Republican Party, Trump has campaigned in recent weeks primarily in small towns and villages in the Rust Belt, which have low populations of both demographics.

“In Colorado, they’re so crazy that they’re taking over parts of the state,” Trump said. “And you know, getting them back is going to be a bloody mess.”