In an hourlong speech at a component manufacturing factory in York, Pa., former President Donald J. Trump said his second term will focus on building, buying and hiring American while casting a dour view of the U.S. economy under Democrats.

Speaking to rural voters in a factory town in the must-win battleground state, Trump repeatedly spoke to pocketbook issues that have long polled as Americans’ top concerns.

“With your vote, we will destroy inflation, bring down prices, achieve incredible economic growth, make America wealthy again and we will bring back most importantly a thing called the American Dream. Right now, the American dream is dead,” he said to the crowd, who occasionally chanted “USA” as the former president talked about everything from U.S. energy policy to Chinese tariffs and Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden.

What You Need To Know

  • In an hourlong speech at a component manufacturing factory in York, Pa., former President Donald J. Trump said his second term will focus on building, buying and hiring American while casting a dour view of the U.S. economy under Democrats

  • He blamed Harris for inflation, calling her an “economy wrecker” and “country destroyer” with a “radical liberal agenda

  • Trump pledged to cut all energy costs in half within his first 12 months of office during a second term, including heating, air conditioning, electricity and gasoline, though he has not detailed how those proposals will be paid for or implemented

  • The former president's Pennsylvania visit was the first in a week of promised Trump campaign counterprogramming as Democrats gather in Chicago for their convention

He said his agenda would put more money in Americans’ pockets while also cutting taxes as well as create million and millions of new jobs.

“We were doing that four years ago and starting to do really well, and then we had to stop for an unknown reason,” he said in an apparent nod to the 2020 election that President Joe Biden won.

Promising to make the U.S. the world’s manufacturing superpower by increasing American energy production, cutting regulations and imposing tariffs on China, he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for sending jobs and wealth to other countries.

“Kamala puts America last. I put America first,” said Trump, who repeatedly insulted the vice president by mispronouncing her first name, calling her a communist and claiming she didn’t know or even understand her own economic policies.

That wasn't the only insult he lobbed at Harris on Monday.

He blamed Harris for inflation, calling her an “economy wrecker” and “country destroyer” with a “radical liberal agenda.” A vote for Harris for president would be a promotion to “job killer in chief,” he charged.

Trump also charged that Harris' father is "a Marxist professor" and openly mused whether or not Democrats were aware of that: "I wonder if they knew where she comes from, where she came from, what her ideology is."

He also sought to fight back against the attacks from Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, calling Trump and running mate JD Vance "weird," rebutting: “I think we’re extremely normal people." 

In a unusually muted speech, Trump drew his biggest reactions using language that made him famous. He encouraged Pennsylvania voters to tell “Comrade Kamala Harris, you’re fired” and promised a second Trump term would unleash American energy because he planned to tell Pennsylvania’s energy workers to “drill baby drill.”

“If we don’t win, your energy numbers will be double and triple. You won’t produce a drop of oil,” he said, even though the United States has produced more oil and gas during the Biden administration than any other presidential term.

Pennsylvania is the second largest producer of natural gas in the United States, following Texas, and is the third-largest coal producer after Wyoming and West Virginia. Pennsylvania is the second-largest net supplier, after Texas, of total energy to other states, according to the U.S. energy Information Administration.

Trump pledged to cut all energy costs in half within his first 12 months of office during a second term, including heating, air conditioning, electricity and gasoline, though he has not detailed how those proposals will be paid for or implemented.

Harris' campaign panned Trump's remarks as incomprehensible.

"It was impossible to tell what Donald Trump was trying to say today, but Americans should be clear on what he will do: He will raise costs on middle class families by $3,900 a year," said Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika. "He will ship American jobs overseas. He will cut Social Security and Medicare and repeal the Affordable Care Act – just like he tried to do last time he was in the White House."

“Vice President Harris is fighting to lower costs for middle class families, and ensure all Americans can not just get by, but get ahead. The choice in this election is clear," Chitika added.

The former president's Pennsylvania visit was the first in a week of promised Trump campaign counterprogramming as Democrats gather in Chicago for their convention. Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, are barnstorming through battleground states this week to try and draw attention away from Harris and the Democratic Party.