Trump press conference live: Former president speaks to the media surrounded by groceries

 

Donald Trump is holding a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course, surrounded by groceries.

The former president has compared Kamala Harris‘s plan to combat to combat food prices to policies in Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro.

 

Donald Trump says he is ‘angry’ at Kamala Harris and that ‘personal attacks’ will continue

Former President Donald Trump started taking questions at his press conference at Bedminster, New Jersey, and responded to a question about whether he should follow advice from fellow Republicans and stop targeting Vice President Kamala Harris with personal attacks.

‘I’m very angry at her that she’s weaponized the Justice system against me and other people, very angry at her,’ he said. ‘I think I’m entitled to personal attacks.’

Trump acknowledged he did not respect Harris, claiming he watched a video recently where few people even knew that her last name was even ‘Harris.’

‘I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think she’ll be a terrible president.’

Trump indicated he continued facing personal attacks from Democrats, when he was president and during his 2024 campaign.

‘She certainly attacks me personally,’ he said, referring to Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota calling him and his running mate JD Vance ‘weird.’

Trump referred to Walz as a terrible governor of the ‘failed state’ of Minnesota.

‘He’s a weird guy. And she’s weird in her policy,’ he said.

He again focused on the legal cases that were brought up against him after he announced his decision to run for president again.

‘They’re not nice to me, they want to put me in prison,’ he said.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

 

Trump repeatedly tries to link Harris to communism and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Trump is repeatedly trying to link Vice President Kamala Harris to communist movements, comparing her to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

‘You’re all going to be thrown into a communist system,’ Trump said at his New Jersey golf club, characterizing Harris’s health care plans.

‘She’s running on the Maduro plan,’ he said as Harris prepares to give an economy speech on Friday in North Carolina.

He accused her of plotting ‘communist price controls’ after she vowed to take on ‘price gouging.’

Donald Trump himself suggested during his interview with Elon Musk earlier this week that he could flee to Venezuela if he loses the election, because it is ‘far safer’ than the United States.

‘If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we’ll meet the next time in Venezuela, because it’ll be a far safer place to meet than our country,’ he said.

Trump suggests he’ll flee to Venezuela if he loses the election
Donald Trump, during his interview with Elon Musk, complained extensively Monday night about the influx of undocumented immigrants entering the US.

Donald Trump ridicules Tim Walz for signing a bill requiring tampons to be placed in boys bathrooms

President Donald Trump ridiculed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for his policies during a press conference on Thursday.

‘He’s the one that signed in tampons in boys bathrooms. He signed a bill, that all boys bathrooms in Minnesota will have tampons,’ he said. ‘What’s going on. What’s wrong with us as a country?’

Trump did not use Walz’s name, but said that he wrecked the state of Minnesota.

‘Out of nowhere he came, nowhere,’ Trump said.

 

Secret Service plans to use bulletproof glass to protect Donald Trump at outdoor events

The Secret Service plans on using bulletproof glass to protect Donald Trump at future campaign events outdoors.

Over a month after the former president was shot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, multiple sources told ABC News that the department is shifting its protective protocols.

Since the shooting on July 13, Trump has held close to a dozen campaign rallies and events indoors.

On Thursday afternoon, however, the former president spoke outdoors from his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The sources said that Trump’s security detail plans on setting up ballistic glass on three sides of the former president for future events.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

 

Trump says he’d ‘love’ for Nikki Haley to campaign for him

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 13: Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley visits "Special Report with Bret Baier" at FOX News D.C. Bureau on August 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’d ‘love’ former rival Nikki Haley to hit the campaign trail on his behalf.

He made the statement after first pointing out how badly he beat Haley in the Republican primary – including in her home state of South Carolina.

‘I fought Nikki very hard. I beat her in her own state by legendary numbers,’ Trump said.

‘I appreciate her advice.I have to do it my way. I ran against her and I did it my way,’ he continued. ‘I won in South Carolina by numbers that nobody’s ever seen before.’

He called Haley a ‘good woman’ and said he appreciated her eventual endorsement.

‘She gave me support, but I’d love to have her go around and campaign,’ Trump said.

Trump, however, brushed off Haley’s advice that he needed to ‘quit whining’ about Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and turn his attention to attracting independent voters – a statement she made on Fox News Tuesday.

‘All we have to do is define our opponent as a communist, a socialist, someone who wants to destroy our country,’ the Republican nominee said.

He then added, ‘I think I’m doing a very calm campaign,’ noting that some reporters at his Bedminster resort Thursday would likely say he ‘ranted and raved’ at the press conference, which stretched to nearly an hour and a half.

 

Trump says God may have saved his life to help ‘save the world’

Trump was asked why he thinks God saved his life following last month’s assassination attempt, and, for what purpose?

He said:

God had something to do with it, it’s a miracle and God had something to do with it. And maybe it’s we wanna save the world, this world is going down, this world is going down. So, it could be,

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

but I believe that.’

 

‘I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time’: Trump bringing food that has gone up in price to his cottage

BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY - AUGUST 15: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a news conference outside the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on August 15, 2024 in Bedminster, New Jersey. Trump's campaign leaders announced they were expanding his staff as the reelection campaign heads in to its final few months. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Trump admired some of the foodstuffs featured behind him during his press conference – but said he didnt’ like tags showing price increases.

‘I think I’m going to take some of them back to my cottage and have a lot of fun,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time.’

 

Donald Trump says he wants to be ‘friendly’ with Iran

Former President Donald Trump spoke about Iran at his press conference on Thursday at Bedminster, New Jersey, vowing to support peace and stability around the world.

‘I’m not looking to be bad to Iran, we’re going to be friendly I hope with Iran, maybe, but maybe not. But we’re going to be friendly I hope.’

Trump said Hamas would have never attacked Israel if he was president, because Iran did not have much money to fund their terrorist operations.

He recalled a comment from Hungary President Viktor Orbán who said that if Trump was the president, the world’s terrorists and dictators would be ‘afraid’ of him and be peaceful.

‘We would have not have any problems with China and Taiwan, we wouldn’t have had any problems with Ukraine and Russia, we wouldn’t have any problems with anything,’ he said.

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., August 15, 2024. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

 

Trump team trolls Kamala Harris for refusing to hold a press conference

Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, posted to X a picture behind the scenes at the ongoing press conference.

‘This is what a press conference looks like, Kamala Harris,’ she wrote.

Kamala Harris has yet to do a one-on-one interview or hold a press conference since Biden bowed out of the race 25 days ago.