Trump paints dark picture of America, promises rosy future if he defeats Biden

Celebrating his birthday, former President Donald Trump presented a dark vision of America that he said could only be transformed one way — with his return as president. His assessment of President Joe Biden: “He’s just a horrible president, a horrible, horrible president. ... You could take the 10 worst presidents and add them up and he’s worse.”

Celebrating his birthday, former President Donald Trump presented a dark vision of America that he said could only be transformed one way — with his return as president.

He said the country was hobbled by rising prices, endangered by criminals from other countries  and threatened by terrorists he claimed are roaming the nation.

“This is the most important election that our country has ever had because we’re a failing nation. And we can’t be a failing nation for long,” he said.

Trump’s declarations came Friday night during a combination rally and birthday celebration in West Palm Beach before an exuberant crowd.

Trump made a range of claims about what he said is the nation’s decline, the evils of President Joe Biden, plus some promise for the future and boasts about what life was like when he was president.

Border security was a constant theme from the beginning to the end.

Trump asserted that Biden has intentionally opened the southern U.S. border to hordes of illegal immigrants. He said Biden is either unaware of or doesn’t care about what is going on at the border.

He started by claiming crime is down in Venezuela because they’re emptying prisons and sending prisoners to the U.S. Then he broadened the claim to include the assertion that other countries are emptying their prisons — and lowering their crime rates by sending their convicts to the U.S.

He also said the country is teeming with terrorists that have crossed the border. He didn’t offer evidence for the supposed shipping of prisoners and hordes of terrorists.

“Terrorist savages are entering through Joe Biden’s open border,” he said. “Crooked Joe Biden released these terrorists and all of these people into the United States totally unchecked, totally unvetted.”

“It’s crazy,” Trump declared, claiming that “he set them loose” to put their terror network in place across the United States.

But, Trump said, it would end if he’s elected president in November. “By this time next year, America’s borders will be shut, sealed and secured.” He said he’d president over the biggest deportation in history and send “Biden’s illegal aliens away.”

Trump raised another security threat. “Now we have Russian warships and submarines off the coast of Cuba,” he said. “Biden’s weakness is putting us in grave danger.”

HIs other central theme was his insistence that Biden is mentally and physically feeble. “We have a president who has no clue as to what the hell is going on,” he said. “He doesn’t know where the hell he is.”

He returned to the theme often but didn’t offer specific evidence of his supposed declining abilities, which he said are obvious to anyone who looks.

“He’s just a horrible president, a horrible, horrible president,” he said. “You could take the 10 worst presidents and add them up and he’s worse.”

Some of the loudest applause came when he briefly raised issues that have become passionate concerns for his MAGA supporters: promising not to “give a penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate,” opposition to efforts that advance diversity, equity and inclusion, and preventing transgender women from competing in sports.

He promised an economic boom if he’s president again.

“We’ll throw out Bidenomics and replace it very quickly with MAGA-nomics,” he said. “America will prosper like never before. We will bring our country back. We will bring our country back quickly.”

Trump made several Florida references, including praising U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for doing a great job. Rubio, who delivered a warm-up speech, is one of several candidates vying for the vice presidential slot on Trump’s ticket.

Trump, who always watches public opinion polls, noted his strong standing in Florida, which is no longer considered a swing state in presidential contests. “We’re winning big in Florida.”

The event, sponsored by Club 47, the big pro-Trump club in Palm Beach County, was a combination of rally and celebration for his 78th birthday. He said it was the biggest birthday party he’s ever had.

Trump gave a relatively brief speech by his usual standard, lasting only 57 minutes. Usually he speaks much longer. His delivery was also much more rushed than it often is.

“I hate to conclude,” he said as he wrapped up an unusually short speech, which lasted less than an hour. “We should go on much longer.”

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.