GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Here in Kent County, what was once a reliable Republican bastion has now become a key battleground in the race for the White House.
In 2020, President Joe Biden became only the second Democratic presidential nominee of the 21st century to carry the county, behind Barack Obama in 2008. For many, the victory solidified the county's new reputation as a coveted pickup opportunity for both major parties.
With the second largest city in this key swing state, it was in this county that former President Donald Trump stepped on stage Saturday to a standing ovation of thousands for his first rally as the official 2024 GOP nominee.
"We will make America powerful again," Trump told the crowd at Van Andel Arena. "We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again."
Trump touched on topics from immigration to the economy, including an American auto industry central to Michigan's economic viability and one he's portrayed as in peril.
"I will rescue the U.S. auto industry from obliteration," Trump said. "They're going to obliterate your auto industry."
Trump also outlined prospective plans for a second term, including implementing reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations and what he described as the "largest deportation operation" in the nation's history.
"Inflation will be in full retreat, our economy will be roaring back, optimism will be surging," Trump said. "You will have your confidence back."
Trump also made mention of the controversial framework of Project 2025 created by the conservative think tank known as the Heritage Foundation.
A nearly 1,000-page plan, Project 2025 outlines policy points that the Heritage Foundation and groups connected with the project seek to have implemented in the event of a conservative-controlled White House next year.
The plan has been heavily scrutinized by critics over aspects including expansions of presidential power over things like the Department of Justice and a dismantling of entities like the Department of Education.
For several weeks, Trump has attempted to publicly distance himself from the plan meant to overhaul the federal government. This has come despite close ties between the project and some of those now tasked with crafting the GOP platform.
"Some on the right, severe right, came up with this Project 25 and I don't even know, I mean, some of them I know who they are, but they're very, very conservative," Trump said. "Just like you have- they're sort of the opposite of the radical left. Okay, you have the radical left, and you have the radical right. And they come up with this. I don't know what the hell it is."
While not specifying which parts with which he may draw issue, Trump referred to some of the aspects of Project 2025 as "extreme."
"I don't know anything about it," Trump said. "I don't want to know anything about it."
Saturday's rally was Trump's first since the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that clinched him the nomination and where he named Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate.
"We had a hell of a four years with President Donald J. Trump, didn't we?" Vance said Saturday. "In four years, he undid, I believe, 30 years of damage, of terrible leadership."
The rally came one week after a shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania that officials are now investigating as an attempted assassination against the former president.
The shooting left at least one rallygoer dead and others injured, including Trump.
"I stand before you only by the grace of Almighty God," Trump said. "That's true. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here."
Many have since called for unity in the aftermath and a drop in the political temperature.
Even so, Trump had pointed words for his party's opponents on Saturday.
"And as you're seeing, the Democrat Party is not the party of democracy," Trump said. "They're really the enemies of democracy, the parties of corrupt insiders like [Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer], special interests and the failed political class."
State Democrats moved early Saturday to respond ahead of his visit.
"As the senior senator from Michigan, I will tell you I am leading the charge to make sure people understand the choice between Trump and Vance, who are only in this for themselves and their billionaire friends and President Biden and Vice President Harris, who are fighting for working Michiganders, their families and their freedoms," outgoing U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said on a press call Saturday morning.
“Let me be clear: Donald Trump and JD Vance aren’t wanted here," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said in a statement. "Their MAGA agenda and cadre of extremists are wildly out of line with our families and our values, and their policies will make life worse for Michiganders as they cut taxes for the wealthy and leave our middle class out to dry. No matter what lies he spouts, I know that Michiganders will once again reject Trump and his extremist agenda this November.”