Donald Trump said he plans to direct “massive portions of federal law enforcement” to militarize the southern U.S. border in an exceptionally bold speech Sunday, just one day after he was criticized for comments that the Biden campaign likened to Adolf Hitler.
Trump used much of his time at a Commit to Caucus rally in Reno, Nevada, focusing on immigration and the border. To roaring cheers at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, the former president bragged how the U.S. border with Mexico “had never been stronger”—until President Joe Biden “came in and launched an invasion against our country, this is like a military invasion.”
“Just like three years ago, the invasion will end,” Trump said.
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The rally comes just 24 hours after the former president was criticized for comments at a Saturday rally in New Hampshire, where Trump said undocumented migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” The term has become popular with the 78-year-old; he repeated the language in a follow-up post on Truth Social and used the reference in a September interview. The Biden campaign swiftly criticized the comments, claiming Trump had “parroted Adolf Hitler.” The German dictator used the term “blood poisoning” in his 1925 manifesto, Mein Kampf.
Trump, however, seemed unfazed by the criticism Sunday, charging ahead to outline his immigration plan should he be re-elected in 2024.
“Given the unprecedented millions of Biden illegal aliens who are invading our country, it is only commonsense that when I’m re-elected we will begin–and we have no choice–the largest deportation operation in American history. We have no choice,” Trump said.
“On my first day back in the White House I will terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration and I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers or cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of illegal alien gang violence once and for all,” Trump proclaimed.
“You don’t want people coming in from prisons and mental institutions.”
“I will shift massive portions of federal law enforcement to immigration enforcement including parts of the DEA, ATF, FBI and DHS,” Trump said to a round of applause on Sunday. “And I will make clear that we must use any and all resources needed to stop the invasion of our country, including moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas in countries that don’t like us. They laugh at our current president, they think he’s a fool, and we shouldn’t be there. We have to protect our own borders first.”
Trump’s rhetoric has gone beyond the traditional attacks, with latest speeches that some critics have deemed racist or fascist. He repeated claims he made Saturday that illegal immigrants from across the world were threatening American safety. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala were among those mentioned on Sunday, along with China.
“We have to get our act together,” Trump said, adding that when he was told by his “people,” that countries won't accept a deportation order, “I said, ‘How much money do we pay those countries in foreign aid?’ I said, ‘Please inform them, as of tomorrow morning, they are not getting any more foreign aid.’”
He reiterated statements he made in October, confirming his travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries would be restored and expanded—as well as “strong ideological screening” for those who want to enter the country.
When pressed on Meet the Press about Trump’s “blood poisoning” comments Wednesday, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) dismissed the criticism. “The president has a way of talking sometimes that I disagree with,” he said.
“But he actually delivered on the border. People are looking for results. If the only thing you want to talk about on immigration is the way Donald Trump talks, you’re missing a lot.
“We’re talking about language. I could care less what language people use as long as we get it right. I believe in legal immigration. I have no animosity toward people trying to come to our country. I have animosity against terrorists and against drug dealers.”
