President Trump holds rally in Minnesota

By Veronica Rocha and Brian Ries, CNN

Updated 9:41 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018
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8:52 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

Somebody shouted "he's a war hero!" as Trump criticized McCain's healthcare vote

From CNN's Jeff Zeleny

President Trump blamed Sen. John McCain for the collapse of health care repeal, repeating a line he has used in most rallies for months. 

"We had a gentlemen way into the morning hours, go thumbs down," Trump said. "He went thumbs down."

The president did not mention McCain by name, but it was clear who he was referring to.

“He’s a war hero!" a woman shouted from the crowd. "He’s a war hero!"

The president moved onto another topic and did not engage.

8:23 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

Trump praises Kim Jong Un at Minnesota rally: He will turn North Korea 'into a great, successful country'

From CNN's Dan Merica

President Donald Trump praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, on Wednesday, telling a fired-up audience that Kim will "turn that country into a great, successful country."

The President's rally is taking place hours after he signed an executive order halting the separation of undocumented immigrant families on the US-Mexico border.

"It was a great meeting," Trump said of his historic meeting with Kim in Singapore earlier this month. "Chairman Kim... will turn that country into a great, successful country. Let me tell you this, a year and a half ago no one thought that was possible."

Trump has sought to cast his meeting with Kim as a turning point in North Korean relations, hoping that the boost on the international stage will help Republicans running in the midterms elections this year. But the outcome of Trump's meeting in Singapore has been largely overshadowed of late by his decision to separate families on the US-Mexico border.

8:10 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

President Trump says remains of US soldiers returning from North Korea

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

Touting his summit with Kim Jong Un, President Trump said Wednesday North Korea has sent back the remains of 200 US soldiers killed in the Korean War.

The return of remains was a key accomplishment from the summit, Trump said, along with ending nuclear tests.

 "They stopped everything that they would want you to stop and they blew up sites where they test," he said. 

"It was a great meeting," Trump said. "Chairman Kim, he will turn that country into a great, successful country. Let me tell you this, a year and a half ago no one thought that was possible."

 He expounded upon his personal ties to Kim.

"I got along with Kim Jong Un," he said, "and that's a good thing, not a bad thing."

"Right now you are so safe," he told the crowd in Duluth.

7:49 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

Here's the scene inside the rally as the crowd awaits Trump

MAGA hats. American flags. And signs that say, "Promises made" and "Promises kept." That's the scene inside Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minnesota, as we await President Trump.

Watch live here.

7:46 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

6 key issues Trump could bring up at his rally

President Trump is delivering remarks at a campaign rally tonight in Minnesota.

The rally comes hours after he signed an executive order to keep families together at the southern border. The practice of separating parents and children sparked outrage and calls for an end to the White House's "zero-tolerance" policy.

Here are a few subjects Trump could talk about tonight:

  • Family separations: Trump reversed course after days of digging in on a policy that resulted in immigrant family separations at the border by signing an executive order that will keep far more families together at the border.
  • Historic summit: The President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met last week in Singapore. As a result of the meeting, Trump and Kim signed an agreement that says North Korea will "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
  • Tariffs on China: Trump ordered the US trade representative to prepare new tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Trump was reacting angrily to Beijing's decision to match $50 billion in tariffs he placed on Chinese goods on June 15 to protest China's "unfair trade practices."
  • Inspector general's report: The inspector general found no evidence of bias in the FBI's and DOJ's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. Trump said the report was wrong and that there was bias. He also criticized fired FBI Director James Comey.
  • The FBI: The Justice Department watchdog report criticized Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation and said anti-Trump texts messages between two FBI officials "cast a cloud" over FBI actions.
  • Russia probe: Trump has repeatedly called special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election a "witch hunt."
7:17 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

Trump says the first lady "went through a pretty big thing" during her kidney procedure

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

President Trump said at a roundtable that first lady Melania Trump "went through a pretty big thing" during her kidney procedure last month.

"She’s doing great. She went though a pretty big thing," Trump said when a participant asked how his wife is doing.

"She is doing fantastically well. She is 100%," Trump said.

He praised the staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center, where the first lady was treated.

7:03 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

Trump says the US has "the weakest, most pathetic immigration laws anywhere in the world"

President Trump, speaking at a roundtable in Minnesota tonight, blasted the United States' immigration laws, calling them "horrible."

"We have the weakest, most pathetic immigration laws anywhere in the world," Trump said. "Nobody has laws like we do."

Trump's remarks come hours after he signed an executive order that he said would keep undocumented immigrant families together when they are detained at the southern border.

Trump, at the roundtable, said his administration is looking at creating immigration laws that are both strong and compassionate.

"We have to have strong borders. Totally strong. We can’t put up with the nonsense. At the same time we’re doing it with compassion," he said. "I think that’s probably a very important thing to be doing."

He suggested he would tie North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Mexico to an insistence that Mexico do more to stop migrant flows to the US.

"We have to have control of our borders," he said. "Once we lose our borders, we lose our country. We don't have a country."

The President said Minnesota, where he was speaking, had seen many problems with illegal immigration, and said one of the reasons he "almost" won the state was his tough immigration stance.

Trump will be speaking at a campaign rally in Duluth later tonight.

With CNN's Kevin Liptak

6:07 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

Trump has landed in Duluth, Minnesota, and is soon headed to a roundtable

Air Force One is wheels down in Duluth, Minnesota, where in just over an hour President Trump will take the stage at Amsoil Arena for a campaign rally.

But first: Trump will talk trade in a roundtable discussion with representatives from the mining and steel industries, as well as local politicians, at the Port of Duluth.

3:11 p.m. ET, June 20, 2018

President Trump is holding a campaign rally in Minnesota tonight

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

President-elect Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives onstage at the DeltaPlex Arena, December 9, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. President-elect Donald Trump is continuing his victory tour across the country.
President-elect Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives onstage at the DeltaPlex Arena, December 9, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. President-elect Donald Trump is continuing his victory tour across the country.

President Trump is speaking at a campaign rally tonight in Duluth, as part of a week-long sprint that will take him to five key states -- Minnesota, Nevada, South Carolina, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

The President's rally comes as outrage grows over the administration's practice of separating parents and children at the southern border.

Trump will first headline a rally in Minnesota, touting a series of Republican candidates in the state, before he heads to the other key states:

  • On Saturday, Trump will then rally with Republicans in Las Vegas and headline a fundraiser for Sen. Dean Heller, arguably the most endangered Republican incumbent in the Senate.
  • Then on Monday, Trump will then travel to South Carolina, according to two sources with knowledge of the President's plans, rallying with incumbent South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster who finds himself in a difficult runoff election against John Warren.
  • Next Wednesday, he will head to Fargo, North Dakota, where he is expected to tout Rep. Kevin Cramer, the Republican Senate candidate looking to unseat Democrat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
  • The following day, the President will then travel to Wisconsin for a 250-person fundraiser with the Trump Victory Committee and the Republican National Committee in Milwaukee, according to Republicans with knowledge of Trump's plans.

Trump has told aides that he expects to constantly be on the road for the midterms, with an increased focus on large rallies that bring hundreds of his supporters together for lengthy speeches full of red-meat.