Trump's closing strategy: Make a splash and attack
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In the closing days of what he says is his last campaign, Donald Trump has launched a strategy combining splashy, attention-getting stunts with dark, apocalyptic messaging.
Why it matters: It's a scaled-up version of a familiar Trump routine — stay in the news, be provocative, deflect.
This strategy led Trump to that fry-cook photo op at a closed McDonald's, and to have a rally with Elon Musk. It's why he's planning a Sunday rally at New York's Madison Square Garden — a storied venue in a state he's highly unlikely to win, but that promises lots of media coverage.
- It's also why Trump's messaging — wrapped in personal grievances throughout the campaign — seems to have escalated to a daily hunt for shock value.
Zoom in: Trump recently has attacked trans Americans, called Vice President Harris "retarded," and made crude references to the late golfer Arnold Palmer's genitalia — giving Harris and Democrats ammunition for their arguments that he's too unstable to be president.
- Trump, 78, has fueled Democrats' criticisms about his stamina by canceling several appearances — including what was supposed to be a town hall Tuesday with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
- Trump courted Latinos in Miami this week and will target young men — a key voting bloc for him — when he's interviewed by podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday.
Zoom out: In the weeks after Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee, Trump grew frustrated as she dominated the headlines. He struggled to find ways to undermine her.
- Trump and his campaign eventually hatched a plan for a series of provocative October events to grab attention in the campaign's final month.
- There was a rally in the field in Butler, Pa., where Trump was shot in July; a visit to Aurora, Colo., to draw attention to what he claims is a wave of undocumented criminal migrants; that visit to a McDonald's in Feasterville, Pa.; and now the Manhattan rally.
Trump's campaign is spending more than $1 million on the New York rally to fulfill his wish to hold an event there, people familiar with the campaign's planning tell Axios.
- The campaign is putting together a head-turning lineup to join Trump in New York, one campaign insider said — just as Trump had former NFL stars Ottis Anderson and Lawrence Taylor join him at a rally this year in neighboring New Jersey.
- The former president, a Queens native, has been talking publicly about doing a rally in Madison Square Garden since being indicted on business fraud charges by a Manhattan jury in March 2023.
Between the lines: Trump, like Harris, is continuing to make stops in swing states.
- On Monday, he made three stops in the key state of North Carolina, and he has upcoming events in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan.
- Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) — who, unlike Trump, doesn't make a habit of mispronouncing Harris' first name, and has been a more consistent messenger on policy issues — has been more doing more of the traditional campaigning while Trump freelances his attacks.
What they're saying: "These are viral moments," former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says of the made-for-TV rallies.
- "It's so much more than just a little cable news coverage. They get eyes on social media."
