Donald Trump travelled to his political heartland on Thursday night to deliver a populist speech revisiting his favourite campaign themes of creating jobs, building a wall with Mexico and keeping violent extremists out of the country.
He talked up stock market gains and his commitment to getting coal miners back to work.
"As you have seen, I have kept that promise as president," he told an excitable crowd in Huntington, West Virginia.
"We are putting our coal miners back to work. We have ended the war on beautiful, clean coal.
During the campaign, Mr Trump told his supporters they would tire of winning.
But in office he has struggled to turn his agenda into solid gains. Efforts to repeal Obamacare have so far ended in failure.
Instead his speech on Thursday night offered a chance to celebrate his election victory, rail against opponents and to announce that Jim Justice, the Democratic governor of West Virginia, was defecting to the Republican party.
He returned to some of his favourite rhetoric from the campaign.
“We have seen the bloodshed and devastation inflicted by terrorists in America, in Europe and all across the world,” he said, before pausing and emphasising his chosen words.
“I said it during the campaign and I will say it right here tonight: We will keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country.”
Some of his advisers had cautioned him against the phrase and during his visit to Saudi Arabia in May he spoke instead about “Islamist extremism”.
But Thursday night’s sports arena rally was designed for his base.
He railed against opponents in the Washington "swamp" and among Democrats who would not let go of the Russia investigation.
“They don’t talk about the all-time high stock market, or reforms to the [Department of Veterans Affairs], or manufacturing jobs we’re are bring back to America by the hundreds of thousands,” he said.
The rally was Mr Trump’s seventh in the past six months as looks to rediscover the energy that propelled him to the White House.
West Virginia’s blue collar voters delivered one of his best results during the election, with almost 70 per cent voting for the Republican candidate.
With Mr Trump’s popularity plummeting elsewhere, his support has held steady in the state. At 60 per cent, his approval rating is higher here than anywhere else in the country.
On Thursday night he told them he was working for them.
“Our agenda is the pro-worker agenda. We want to control our borders and lift our people from welfare to work,” he told the audience.
“We want to support our police and make our communities safe.
“We want to reduce taxes and increase wages for all of our people.
“We want to get the special interests out of politics for good.”
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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