Trump heads to Pennsylvania rally for first visit to the state since assassination attempt: Live updates

Donald Trump is soon to appear at his first rally in Pennsylvania since the attempt on his life on July 13. The former president will speak in Harrisburg shortly after 6pm.

It’s already been a wild day for the Trump campaign. Earlier Trump appeared at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago today and shocked many in attendance by accusing his host of being “rude”, and questioning Kamala Harris’s racial identity, while doubling down on conspiracy theories and even the phrase “Black jobs”.

People could be heard gasping at times, jeering at others, and laughing at some of the former president’s answers. Trump even diminished the role of the vice president when asked if JD Vance was ready on day one.

He also seemed unfamiliar with the details of the Sonya Massey case in a discussion about his calls for law enforcement immunity, and when asked whether he would pardon January 6 rioters who injured police officers said he would if they were innocent before questioning their convictions when corrected.

Even before his unhinged remarks in Chicago, both Trump and Vance were facing backlash over sexist comments made about women.

Key Points

• Trump claims Kamala Harris only recently ‘became a Black woman’ in unhinged remarks to Black journalists

• Acting Secret Service chief said he was ‘ashamed’ by lack of roof security at Trump rally

• Donald Trump says he will ‘probably’ debate Kamala Harris

• Trump rails against Fox News for showing Harris rallies and Lincoln Project ads

• Trump agrees to be interviewed as part of investigation into his assassination attempt, FBI says

Second Gentleman slams Trump at Maine fundraiser

07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, slammed Trump during a fundraiser in Maine for the former president’s comments about his wife’s racial identity.

“A worse version of an already horrible person,” he said regarding Trump, according to The Washington Post.

“The insults, the BS, shows a lack of character—but it’s a distraction,” he added.

Trump attorney claims Harris doesn’t know where she comes from

06:00 , Gustaf Kilander

After Trump’s controversial comments about Harris’s heritage earlier today, his attorney Alina Habba appeared to double down while speaking in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

“Unlike you Kamala, I know who my roots are and where I come from,” she said.

Rudy Giuliani agrees to last-minute deal to end bankruptcy case, paying out $400k

05:00 , Kelly Rissman

Cash-strapped Rudy Giuliani has reached an agreement with his bankruptcy creditors on the conditions of his case dismissal, which requires the former New York City mayor to pay $400,000 in administrative expenses.

The deal was announced on Wednesday after Judge Sean Lane threw out the bankruptcy case earlier this month. But the disgraced ex-mayor is still on the hook to pay two defamed election workers, whom he owes $148m. He is also required to pay administrative fees for the case, which the former Trump lawyer had refused to pay despite it being a legal requirement for dismissal.

READ MORE:

Rudy Giuliani agrees to last-minute deal to end bankruptcy case, paying out $400k

Donald Trump falsely suggests Kamala Harris misled voters about her race

04:14 , Namita Singh

Donald Trump falsely suggested Kamala Harris had misled voters about her race as the former president appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago in an interview that quickly turned hostile.

The Republican wrongly claimed that Ms Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past only highlighted her Indian heritage.

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said while addressing the group’s annual convention.

Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both immigrants to the US. As an undergraduate, Ms Harris attended Howard University, one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black colleges and universities, where she also pledged the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. As a US senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting legislation to strengthen voting rights and to reform policing.

Trump has levelled a wide range of criticisms at Harris since she replaced president Joe Biden atop the likely Democratic ticket last week. Throughout his political career, the former president has repeatedly questioned the backgrounds of opponents who are racial minorities.

Michael Tyler, the communications director for Harris’ campaign, said in a statement that “the hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power”.

“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency – while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in,” Mr Tyler said. “Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.”

In pictures: Trump speaks in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

04:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Harris condemns ‘same old show of divisiveness’ after Trump questions her heritage at Black journalist event

03:00 , Andrew Feinberg

Hours after former president Donald Trump questioned whether she was truly a Black woman, Vice President Kamala Harris slammed Trump’s racist remark as she spoke before a cheering crowd of members of a predominantly Black sorority in Houston, Texas.

Harris told sisters of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, inc — a member of the “Divine Nine” group of historically Black fraternities and sororities — that Trump’s remarks before the National Association of Black Journalists, in which he claimed that she had “all of a sudden she made a turn and ... became a Black person,” were “the same old show” of “divisiveness and disrespect” from the ex-president.

Trump’s comments came during a bizarre 30-minute sit-down at the journalism organization’s annual conference in Chicago moments after he told ABC’s Rachel Scott that he “didn’t know” that Harris “was Black.”

READ MORE:

Harris condemns ‘same old show of divisiveness’ after Trump questions her heritage

Trump yet again mentions Hannibal Lecter

02:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump: ‘Can anybody imagine Kamala Harris dealing with President XI of China'

01:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate takes the stage

01:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick took the stage on Wednesday night, saying “This is the most important election of our lifetime. We know it.”

“We also know that this is ground zero, which is going to put you back in the White House and a majority in the Senate,” he told Trump.

VIDEO: Trump kisses female 'genius' behind 'life-saving' chart in first rally in Pennsylvania since shooting

01:10 , Reann Philogene

Trump claims he would end Ukraine war before coming into office

01:07 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump claimed that he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine before even coming back into office, saying that he would negotiate an end to the war “after the election as president-elect.”

Trump brings on stage woman who operated immigration chart during assassination attempt

00:58 , Mike Bedigan

Donald Trump introduced the woman who operates his new favorite immigration chart, which he claims has “saved his life”.

“I love that chart. I’m gonna sleep with that chart for the rest of my life,” he told the cheering crowd.

“You know the amazing stuff, the people that operate the computers and all the brilliant equipment things we have backstage.

“She said to me… she’s great… she should come out, just tell her to come out here for a second, quick, quick, quick you gotta get her out. She’s never done this before… she saved my life in a sense…here she is! Wow!”

The former president shared an awkward embrace with the young woman and gave her a peck on the cheek, before describing her as “a computer genius”.

She declined to say anything major, sheepishly saying “hi” into the microphone before exiting the stage to more cheers from Trump supporters.

Trump makes bizarre claims about January 6 Select Committee

00:54 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump claimed without evidence on Wednesday that the House Select Committee investigating January 6 destroyed evidence and argued that they should indicted.

Trump praises chart that saved his life

00:43 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump returns for indoor Pennsylvania rally for first time since assassination attempt in state

00:40 , John Bowden

Donald Trump was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday for his first campaign rally in the swing state of Pennsylvania since he came within inches of being killed by a would-be assassin’s bullet earlier this month.

The former president spoke at an indoor rally where thousands packed in to see him just hours after he appeared for a confrontational interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago. In that appearance, Trump insulted his opponent, Kamala Harris, and falsely accused her of lying about her race — stating that she recently “became Black”. Harris, who is biracial, is Black and Indian-American. He walked out to Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American”, days after Greenwood himself appeared at the Republican National Convention and endorsed him.

“As you know, this is my first rally since Butler,” Trump said. “We’re going back to Butler, by the way.”

READ MORE:

Trump returns to Pennsylvania for first time since assassination attempt

Trump says he didn’t know Harris’s name two weeks ago

00:35 , Gustaf Kilander

Rightwing broadcasters say Harris is ‘elevating and pushing her Black side'

00:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump says he expects to win in ‘massive landslide'

00:29 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump claimed on Wednesday night that “This November the American people are going to reject Kamala Harris's dangerous liberal extremism in a massive landslide.”

“We're not going to let her turn the United States into a communist San Francisco colony,” he added. “We're not gonna let it happen. That's what they want to do. They want to destroy our country. She's the worst.”

Trump says Biden is ‘not old’

00:25 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump says he’s not ending outdoor rallies

00:21 , Gustaf Kilander

Even amid security concerns following the attempt on his life, Trump said he wasn’t giving up on outdoor rallies.

“Although they prefer that we be in an arena. I don't know why,” Trump said after addressing the assassination attempt.

“But we're not giving up the outdoor rallies, you know all those people that we had to turn away today,” he said.

“At an outdoor rally ... we had 107,000 people show up in New Jersey,” he claimed.

Trump calls Biden a ‘phony’ of the ‘radical left'

00:19 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump said in Harrisburg that Biden is “destroying our country. She's worse than he is. She is actually worse than he is because she's a real radical left. He's a phony radical left.”

He added that Biden “didn't believe this stuff. He didn't believe in open borders and she does, she wants to open your borders.”

Trump campaign displays headlines focusing on Harris’s Indian heritage

00:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump calls Harris ‘totally scripted'

00:14 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump went on to say that Harris is “totally scripted” and that she’s “owned and controlled by the donors and the power brokers ... who rip off our government and make billions and billions of dollars.”

Trump says he’s going back to site of assassination attempt as he slams Harris rally

00:08 , Gustaf Kilander

Seemingly in reference to Harris’s Georgia rally, Trump said he didn’t need a “star” to pull a massive crowd in Harrisburg.

“It's a great crowd ... over 20,000 people couldn't get in and we didn't need anybody to get the people here. We didn't need a star,” Trump said.

“In about six minutes everyone was leaving they were pouring out we don't need that,” he claimed.

Trump went on to say that he would be returning to the site of his assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

DNC blasts Trump for overseeing ‘loss of Pennsylvania jobs'

00:00 , Gustaf Kilander

DNC Spokesperson Addy Toevs

Second Gentleman slams Trump at Maine fundraiser

23:45 , Gustaf Kilander

The Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, slammed Trump during a fundraiser in Maine for the former president’s comments about his wife’s racial identity.

“A worse version of an already horrible person,” he said regarding Trump, according to The Washington Post.

“The insults, the BS, shows a lack of character—but it’s a distraction,” he added.

Trump’s nephew slams former president for ‘lack of empathy’ and ‘insanity'

23:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump attorney claims Harris doesn’t know where she comes from

23:15 , Gustaf Kilander

After Trump’s controversial comments about Harris’s heritage earlier today, his attorney Alina Habba appeared to double down while speaking in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

“Unlike you Kamala, I know who my roots are and where I come from,” she said.

Watch live as Trump holds rally in battleground state of Pennsylvania

23:06 , Oliver Browning

Warning: This livestream has not been independently fact-checked and may contain misinformation.

Watch live as Donald Trump holds a rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday 31 July.

The Republican presidential nominee is holding the rally hours after a contentious interview at the country’s largest annual gathering of Black journalists in Chicago.

During the appearance, Mr Trump questioned whether his Democratic rival Kamala Harris is “Indian” or “Black”.

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black, until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black,” he said, drawing a smattering of jeers from an audience of about 1,000 people.

Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, has long self-identified as both Black and Asian. She is the first Black person and Asian American person to serve as US vice president.

Since launching her White House campaign earlier this month, Harris has faced a barrage of sexist and racist attacks online, with some far-right accounts questioning her racial identity. Republican Party leaders have urged lawmakers to refrain from personal attacks and focus on her policy positions.

Watch: Buttigieg comments on Trump diminishing office of vice president

22:56 , Oliver O'Connell

In pictures: Crowd gathers for Trump’s first Pennsylvania rally since assassination attempt

22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Vance says it’s time to ‘load the muskets’ in foreword on new Project 2025 book

22:40 , Oliver O'Connell

JD Vance has said that it is “time to circle the wagons and load the muskets” in a foreword to a book on the controversial Project 2025.

The Ohio Senator – Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 presidential race – also praised the leader of the project despite the former president previously denying all connection to it.

Amazon’s listing of the book, Dawn’s Early Light, describes it as outlining “a peaceful ‘Second American Revolution’ for voters looking to shift the power back into the hands of the people.

Mike Bedigan reports.

JD Vance says it’s time to ‘load the muskets’ in foreword on new Project 2025 book

Watch: Buttigieg says Project 2025 is first time candidate has disavowed own policy framework

22:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Report: Truth Social nears lowest audience mark since its launch

22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social has suffered some of its worst-ever audience numbers as of late, according to a media analysis.

Last month, the site had just over 2.11 million unique visitors down 38 percent compared to the same period last year.

It is the second lowest site traffic has dipped since June 2022, when Truth Social attracted 1.8 million visitors, according to Howard Polskin, of media monitoring firm TheRighting, who based his analysis on Comscore data. And it’s a world away from the site’s more than 3.2 million visitors upon launch in February of 2022.

Josh Marcus reports.

Trump’s Truth Social nears lowest audience mark since its launch, report says

Watch: Fox News host calls Trump remarks ‘complete absolute dumpster fire’

22:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump says he could ‘absolutely’ step down as president if health declined

22:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Lost amidst the flurry of outrageous statements he made at today’s NABJ convention in Chicago was that Donald Trump said he would step down as president if his health declined.

Asked by Semafor’s Kadia Goba if he would step down as president if he felt his health was declining, Trump, 78, replied: “Oh, absolutely.”

He continued: “If I thought that I was failing in some way … I’ll go a step further, I want anybody running for president to take an aptitude test, to take a cognitive test, I think it’s a great idea. And I took two of them and I aced them.”

Trump then said anyone running for president should take such tests no matter what their age, before saying he would do another and so should Kamala Harris.

22:13 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Senator for North Dakota Kevin Cramer was asked about Donald Trump’s comments about Kamala Harris’s racial identity by Igor Bobic of HuffPost.

“I don't think he's doubting her blackness. What he's doing is he's making fun of the fact that she chooses it when it's convenient, and chooses another race when that's convenient.”

Senator Cramer went on to say he wants Trump to steer clear of making such comments because “nuance or satire is often confused, is often confusing.”

He adds: “It'll provide people opportunity to take words literally and apply them in a different way.”

22:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Watch: Trump repeats lie about Democrats supporting murder of babies

22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump offers his own review of his NABJ performance

21:44 , Oliver O'Connell

OK...

Trump campaign spokesperson warns Harris wants to ‘ban our assault weapons'

21:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump campaign spokesperson Caroline Sunshine warned on Fox News this morning that Kamala Harris wants to “ban our assault weapons”.

The majority of Americans (65 per cent of registered voters) support such a ban.

Former Trump staffers react to NABJ interview

21:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Watch: Rev Al Sharpton reacts to Trump’s NABJ

21:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Harris campaign reacts to Trump's NABJ appearance

21:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Harris for President communications director Michael Tyler released the following statement after Donald Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.

“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people.

“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency – while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.

“Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10.”

Harris campaign responds to Trump’s ‘tirade’

21:10 , Alex Woodward

Harris’s campaign said Trump’s “tirade” was “the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president.”

“Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign,” said Harris for President communications director Michael Tyler.

“It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans,” he added.

“All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10.”

21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump says he ‘crushed’ his disastrous panel appearance

20:57 , Alex Woodward

Trump hopped on Truth Social after his question-and-answer panel at a conference with the National Association of Black Journalists, where he questioned Kamala Harris’s ethnicity and grew defensive and combative with the Black women journalists who questioned him.

“The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!” he wrote.

Fox anchor who appeared on Trump panel doesn’t address his false claims about Kamala Harris’s identity

20:45 , Alex Woodward

Fox News host Harris Faulkner, who appeared alongside ABC’s Rachel Scott and Semafor’s Kadia Goba during the NABJ panel on Wednesday, was asked for her “thoughts” about Trump’s inflammatory comments when she re-appeared on the network.

”It was chippy at times but for the most part” the audience “was laughing,” she claimed.

Responding to another question, she said “what I loved about we could not see today was how much of that audience was enjoying the moment of hearing from the candidate that they ight not always agree with.”

Full story: Trump claims Kamala Harris only recently ‘became a Black woman’ in unhinged remarks to Black journalists

20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Moments into a heated question-and-answer session with Black journalists in Chicago, Donald Trump claimed that vice president Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black” only recently.

“I didn’t know she was Black,” he said on Wednesday. “She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”

Trump — responding to questions about whether he agrees with Republican allies who claimed that she was selected to run for office only because of her race — frequently interrupted and sparred with three Black women media workers at the National Association of Black Journalists conference.

Read Alex Woodward’s full report.

Trump questions Kamala Harris’ ethnicity in remarks to Black journalists

Watch: Trump appears to have very little knowledge of Sonya Massey case

20:00 , Oliver O'Connell