WASHINGTON − After more than two weeks of sitting in a courtroom at his New York hush money trial, former President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Wednesday with two rallies − and two very different approaches.
In an afternoon speech in Wisconsin, Trump spoke at length about issues like inflation, immigration, and protests on college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war, while saying relatively little about the ongoing trial that could turn him into a convicted felon facing a prison sentence.
Hours later, at an evening rally in Michigan, Trump turned to his wide-ranging charges, attacking judges, prosecutors, and lawyers involved in all of the criminal and civil cases against him, and added in President Joe Biden.
“He wants to jail his political opponent,” Trump said in Freeland, Mich., near Saginaw, though there is no evidence Biden himself has had anything to do with the many cases against his predecessor.
These were Trump’s first campaign rallies since the April 15 start of jury selection in the New York trial (he had planned to hold one in Wilmington, N.C., on April 20, but had to cancel because of bad weather).
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Here are USA TODAY’s top takeaways as Trump’s courtroom and campaign schedule collided this week.
Trump tries to change the subject from indictments to economy
Before the former president’s trial on charges he falsified business records started, Trump spent much time at rallies denouncing the sweeping indictments against him. But at his first in-trial rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Trump spent less time on criminal charges and more time on issues like the economy.
Trump devoted most of his Wisconsin speech to rises in the cost of living, and he pledged to end what he called Biden’s “inflation death spiral.”
A key inflation report last month showed an unexpected surge in consumer prices, though forecasters predict that inflation is still on course to gradually ease this year and in 2025.
Nevertheless, Trump’s focus on the economy on Wednesday could point to a strategy Republicans are hoping to rely on up and and down the ballot in 2024: Keeping their focus on hitting Democratic rivals on the economy and high prices.
“It’s an inflation tax,” Trump told a crowd of supporters on Wednesday.
Trump also discussed the economy in Michigan, with a particular eye toward the auto industry, but returned to attacking the legal actions against him.
Addressing campus protests
Trump also turned to the biggest issue of the day, the protests roiling college campuses nationwide over the Israel-Hamas war, and claimed Biden is “nowhere to be found.”
In Wisconsin, Trump called on college presidents to “remove the encampments immediately, vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses.”
In recent days, protestors took over a building at Columbia University in New York City and engaged in a brawl at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Biden and aides have decried the violence and are planning a major presidential address on the unrest.
Venturing into abortion
In early April, Trump announced that he believes states should decide their own laws regarding abortion and suggested he would oppose any kind of federal ban. Democrats have said they hope abortion rights will fuel Biden’s reelection chances.
Trump has largely sought to avoid addressing abortion restrictions in the weeks since, but he did defend his stance in both Wisconsin and Michigan, saying each state is entitled to approach the issue differently.
Trump also told supporters that abortion is a risky issue for Republican candidates, and “you have to get elected” in order to get anything done. In recent weeks, the former president has criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other prominent Republicans he says have gone too far in supporting six-week bans.
“I thought it was a good thing to talk about,” Trump told Wisconsin supporters at one point.
Democrats hit Trump on abortion rights
Democrats reacted to Trump’s campaign appearances by addressing his comments on abortion – a pivotal issue in swing states – and saying he cannot actually be trusted to veto a federal ban.
They also noted that Trump has bragged about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and that Trump has expressed support for state plans that seek to prevent people from obtaining abortions.
A memo from the Biden campaign, noting that Trump appeared in suburban Waukesha County, said he “cannot win Wisconsin without improving his margins in this critical county – but his embrace of extreme abortion bans, attacks on democracy, and threats to the state economy keeps driving these voters away.”
Addressing criminal trials
Trump didn’t ignore the four trials he faces, though he saved most of his remarks about his criminal counts and civil trials for his speech in Michigan. He again alleged without evidence that they’re a form of election interference.
Trump, who is accused of improperly influencing the 2016 election by paying hush money to women to keep quiet about affairs, spent less time than usual denouncing what he calls the “weaponization” of law enforcement.
“There’s no crime,” he said, also addressing the three other cases against him involvin his alleged mishandling of classified documents and attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
Trump is expected to continue campaigning in and around trial dates, with an emphasis on battleground states like Wisconsin and Michigan.
The hush trial is scheduled to resume Thursday in New York, and could last at least another month.
In a fundraising solicitation texted right after the Wisconsin appearance, Trump said: “YOU CAN’T KEEP ME OFF STAGE.”
