By Jenna Johnson
The Washington Post
ORLANDO, Fla. — After giving nearly the same speech at rally after rally this week, Donald Trump opened his remarks at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in an unexpected way.
He delivered what sounded like the first draft of a victory speech.
“This has been an incredible journey, and we’ve all done it together. We’re almost at the end,” Trump said, as a woman in the crowd shouted that she loves him. “But we’re really at the end of the beginning, if you think about it. Aren’t we? The end of the beginning.”
Addressing the crowd of a few thousand in 85-degree heat, Trump said that their “magnificent historic movement has surprised the world and defied expectations at every single turn” and that they would surprise the world one more time on Election Day.
“It has been the honor of my life to share this journey with you. It has absolutely been,” Trump said. “There are two people, however, who I did not really get to share this with, but who are in my thoughts often. And that’s my mother and my father. Great people. I had great parents, great parents. I know they’re up there watching. I just felt that nice breeze. It’s hot, but I just felt that nice breeze, so they’re helping us out. And I just want to say thank you to both of them. Special, special people.”
Trump rarely mentions his late parents, Fred and Mary Trump, on the campaign trail. But when he recorded his first win in a political contest, the New Hampshire Republican primary on Feb. 9, Trump opened his remarks by saying that his parents were “looking down” and saying to themselves: “This is something very special.”
Just a week ago, it seemed as if there was no path to victory for Trump. Then on Friday, FBI Director James B. Comey sent a letter to lawmakers announcing that the agency would take “investigative steps” to evaluate a new batch of emails that might be related to Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Many Republicans claim the FBI is reopening its investigation, and Clinton has gone on the defensive.
Meanwhile, Trump has watched the race narrow.
Suddenly, he has an opening, one that his staff and his supporters hope he can parlay into an Election Day victory, although Clinton is still favored to win by most outside observers. Trump has had these sorts of openings before and managed to completely bungle the opportunity by taking bait floated by the Clinton campaign or creating controversies that overshadow his message.
At a rally in Pensacola on Wednesday evening, Trump said aloud the words that many have imagined his staff telling him before each rally.
“We are going to win the White House, going to win it. It’s feeling like it already, isn’t it? Just we’ve got to be nice and cool. Nice and cool. Alright? Stay on point, Donald, stay on point. No sidetracks, Donald. Nice and easy. Nice,” Trump said, pumping his hands up and down in a calming motion. “Because I’ve been watching Hillary the last few days — she is totally unhinged. We don’t want any of that. She has become unhinged.”
Trump has a reputation for parroting information that he hears, whether it be statistic, an idea for a victory speech, a circulating conspiracy theory or a particular turn-of-phrase. Several rounds of campaign staffers have found that those who are physically closest to Trump, especially for conversations on his plane, have the greatest opportunity to influence him.
When Kellyanne Conway and Stephen Bannon took control of Trump’s campaign in August, they purposely stayed in New York during major events, trying to shift the center of power from Trump’s plane to the campaign headquarters. But with the election approaching, Bannon has been regularly traveling with Trump. So has Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been a quiet force in the campaign.
For the past three days, Trump had been giving basically the same speech at several rallies a day. In Michigan on Monday, Trump focused heavily on the decreasing number of manufacturing jobs in the state. In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Tuesday, he hammered on the increasing cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance plans. Trump hit on both of those topics at three rallies in Florida on Wednesday, along with listing his other campaign promises.
Trump radiated confidence and excitement as he spoke, a dramatic change following weeks of gloomy resignation. He claimed to be winning nearly everywhere and announced that in two more days, he will be winning everywhere. But he repeatedly warned that he and his supporters have to be careful to not blow their opportunity to win the White House.
“The polls are all saying we’re going to win Florida — don’t believe it, don’t believe it,” Trump said at a rally in Miami. “Get out there and vote. Pretend we’re slightly behind … We don’t want to blow this.”
Trump has lavished an unusual amount of praise on fellow Republicans this week — while continuing to promise his supporters that he will “drain the swamp” in Washington — and he has seen party leaders once again publicly embrace him. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., announced that he voted for Trump, even though he continues to refuse to campaign with him. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appeared at two campaign events with Trump on Tuesday, and GOP Chairman Reince Priebus has been traveling with Trump this week and speaking at his rallies. A group of lawmakers appeared alongside Trump at a health care policy speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Trump’s level of control this week has startled many. His tweets read as if they were written by a staff member, and he has yet to seize on some of the bait that the Clinton campaign has thrown his way, including having former Miss Universe Alicia Machado — who has accused Trump of cruelly ridiculing her weight — campaign with Clinton in Florida. Trump has stuck closely with his scripted speeches.
The biggest change from rally to rally on Wednesday was the color of Trump’s campaign hat: In Miami early in the afternoon, Trump wore a white cap with “Make America Great Again” in black stitching. In Orlando a couple hours later, he switched to a red hat with white stitching. And in the evening in Pensacola, Trump wore a camouflage-print hat with orange stitching.
But Trump made comments — some possibly scripted, others seemingly unscripted — that could have hurt the chances of any other candidate in any other election year.
In Miami, Trump bragged about nicknaming his opponent “Crooked Hillary,” suggesting that she cheated during their debates, despite not having any evidence of such, and predicted that Clinton would be convicted during her presidency, though she has not been charged with any crime. He then predicted that WikiLeaks would soon dump more hacked emails related to Clinton, whom he described as “very unstable.”
Trump said that allowing Syrian refugees into the country would lead to “generations of terrorism and extremism spreading in your schools and all throughout your communities.” He also appealed directly to minority voters with this pitch: “The crime is horrible, the education is terrible, and you can’t get a job. We’re going to fix the inner cities.”
He questioned if the “dishonest media” is “worthy — think of it — of the First Amendment,” then singled out NBC News’ Katy Tur.
“Katy, you’re not reporting it, Katy,” Trump said in a scolding tone.”There’s something happening, Katy. There’s something happening, Katy.”
In Orlando, Trump incorrectly described the FBI’s new probe of emails found on a laptop belonging to the estranged husband of a top Clinton aide, saying that authorities found 650,000 emails that contain “classified, confidential” information that will be a “treasure trove” — even though officials aren’t sure if any of the emails on the laptop are connected to Clinton. He then referenced the emails as having been “stolen.”
In Pensacola, Trump accused Clinton of hiring “thugs” to come to his rallies and beat people up, giving each $1,500 and a cellphone. An undercover video by Project Veritas captured a Democratic operative who worked for the Democratic National Committee talking about hiring people to disrupt Trump rallies; The operative later said it was a hypothetical conversation but he left his job after the video came out. There is no evidence that the Clinton campaign was involved — but Trump said, with no evidence, that even President Obama likely knew about it.
Still, this is considered on-message and under control for Trump, whose dream of becoming president once again seems just within his reach, as long as he make any egregious missteps. His campaign announced on Wednesday evening that Trump will hold an election night party at the New York Hilton Midtown — but there are no plans for a massive fireworks show like the one former GOP nominee Mitt Romney ordered in 2012 but never set off.
“We are just — do you believe this? — six days away,” Trump said in the closing minutes of his speech in Pensacola. “Six days. Six days. I started this in June, June 16th of last year. It seemed like it would take forever.”
As Trump left the stage, fireworks shot up into the darken sky.
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