Former President Donald Trump said his "consequential" agenda was the reason he has been targeted in two assassination attempts.
The former president sat with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for a town hall in Flint, Michigan in his first public campaign event since surviving his second assassination attempt this weekend.
During the town hall, Trump discussed the importance of the United States manufacturing vehicles as opposed to importing them from Mexico and China, adding he would place a 200% tariff on imported vehicles in his future administration.
“They think they’re going to make their cars there and they’re going to sell them across our line and we’re going to take them and we’re not going to charge them tax. We’re going to charge them. I’m telling you right now, we’re putting a 200% tariff on them, which means they’re unsellable,” Trump said.
Trump then referenced his two assassination attempts: "You wonder why I get shot at."
“You know, only consequential presidents get shot at," Trump said, adding "you have to do what you have to do."
"You have to be brave. Otherwise, you’re not going to have a country left," he said. PRESIDENT TRUMP IN MICHIGAN: "We are going to bring so many auto plants into our country. You are going to be as big or BIGGER than you were 50 years ago." pic.twitter.com/fBcq6NHK1e
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 17, 2024
“We are going to bring so many auto plants into our country. You are going to be as big or bigger than you were 50 years ago,” Trump said as the crowd applauded.
“I think it’s safe to say that Michigan is happy that you’re going to be president again,” Sanders said.
The former president also discussed other policies on trade and the economy throughout the evening. Trump stressed that a vote for him would bring industry and other jobs back to Michigan, which is a vital toss-up state in this November's election.
On Sunday, a 58-year-old man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh hid for 12 hours with a rifle near the former president's West Palm Beach, Florida golf course. Routh later pointed an AK-47 at Trump through a fence as the former president played a round of golf seemingly with the intent to harm Trump, though was apprehended by Secret Service.
On Monday, Routh made his first federal court appearance where he faced two counts of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Routh faces up to 20 years in prison for his two charges, though other charges are expected as the investigation continues.
The incident follows a previous assassination attempt which Trump narrowly survived during a Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally in July.
