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Updated Oct. 11, 2024, 11:46 AM UTC
By NBC News
What's happening on the campaign trail today
- Former President Donald Trump is venturing out West today, making stops in Aurora, Colorado — which he has argued is overrun by migrants and gang violence — and Reno, Nevada.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, will swing through Michigan today to speak in Macomb County, while Harris returns to Washington, D.C., from Arizona after campaigning there yesterday.
- Walz's trip to the Midwest comes one day after former President Barack Obama made the first stop of his eleventh-hour swing-state blitz with an appearance yesterday in Pittsburgh marked by his sharp criticism of Trump.
Cities seek more than $750K in unpaid bills for Trump campaign events since 2016
Trump held a third rally last month in Erie, Pennsylvania, which sits in the northwest corner of a swing state that could decide who wins the White House.
Like the two other times Trump has been to Erie to rev up his supporters, he left without paying the bill.
City officials haven’t yet tallied up what the Trump campaign owes Erie for public safety costs for his most recent rally in September. But according to a city official, Trump owes the city more than $40,000 for the rallies he held there in 2018 and 2023.
Erie, whose bills were previously reported by the Erie Times-News, isn’t the only city that has hosted Trump rallies and not been paid by the campaign. Including Erie, four cities and a county confirmed to NBC News that they’re still waiting for the Trump campaign to pay bills often associated with reimbursements for the costs of local law enforcement and other first responder personnel.
The final price tag is more than $750,000 for those five jurisdictions, with some bills dating back eight years. At the same time, it’s not always clear cut whose legal responsibility it is to foot the bill.
Trump has kept in touch with more foreign leaders than Putin since leaving office
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Trump has kept a toe in foreign policy since he left the White House, talking not just to Russian President Vladimir Putin — whom he reportedly has spoken to seven times since he left office, a revelation that has raised eyebrows.
At his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, foreign delegations from Israel and Ukraine have sat opposite Trump and his campaign staffers as if they were holding a bilateral meeting — then shared remarks before a bank of news cameras, a set-up that evokes some of the trappings of a state visit.
Staying tapped into foreign policy allows Trump to argue that he could easily slide back into office, but it also carries risk for Trump, who faced criticism while he was in office for his close ties to Russia and complaints about how talkative he was with other leaders.
In office, Trump reveled in his one-on-one interactions with other leaders, and he argued in a speech at a rally Wednesday that having an open dialogue helped cut bring hostile adversaries down to size. Asked about those relationships in a podcast interview, Trump said, “The tougher they were, the better I did with them,” adding that it was a good thing he got along with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The other ones are easy to handle,” he said.
Obama tells men Trump doesn’t represent ‘real strength’
Reporting from Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH — Rallying for Harris, former President Barack Obama spoke directly to American men and characterized Trump as mendacious and self-centered, saying he doesn’t represent “real strength.”
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, I’ve noticed this especially with some men who seem to think some of Trump’s behavior — the bullying and the putting people down — is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you: That is not what real strength is. It never has been,” Obama said, drawing heavy applause from the Democratic crowd.
“Real strength is about working hard. And carrying a heavy load is about complaining. Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient,” he said. “Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and our sons, and that is what I want to see in a president of the United States of America.”
Obama said Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, represent the “character” and “values” a president should have.
Hurricane Helene upends Trump’s and Harris’ plans for one of the biggest swing states
The unprecedented destruction Hurricane Helene has wreaked on western North Carolina could take months, if not years, to rebuild. Entire communities are destroyed, and scores of residents are displaced. With the presidential election in less than 26 days, both parties are scrambling to contend with the unpredictable political fallout.
For Harris, who became the Democratic nominee only 2½ months ago, the hurricane’s aftermath had meant the suspension of campaign rallies. That’s lost time when, in Harris’ world, every hour has counted, especially when the onus is on Democrats to flip a historically red state.
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