Trump faces national security test with speeches, forum

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his joint fundraising committees raised a substantial $90 million last month, according to numbers first reported Wednesday by Fox News. Clinton’s lead has largely evaporated despite a challenging month for Trump, which saw an overhaul of his campaign staff, announcements of support for Clinton from several high-profile Republicans and criticism of his campaign strategy. “I will defend them”, Clinton said.

Clinton took questions from reporters on her plane, and bashed Trump over not releasing his tax returns.

Clinton and her top aides have sought to disqualify Trump’s ability to handle national security and military issues, questioning his temperament and qualifications. He referenced Clinton and President Barack Obama’s policies, saying, “You have illegal immigrants that she wants and he wants treated better than veterans”.

Clinton even did her best to banter with a press she clearly doesn’t much like or care for: “I like the hat”, she told one man.

Overall, two-thirds of voters say they are more interested in watching this year’s debates than previous ones; just a quarter say they are less interested.

Trump’s address comes hours before his national security acumen is tested at a “commander in chief” forum on NBC.

Trump, meanwhile, continued to face questions about his immigration policy a day after refusing to rule out a pathway to legal status for immigrants in the country illegally.

“No conversation about our national security would be complete unless we acknowledged that the nominee on the other side promises to do things that will make us less safe”, Clinton said.

“I look forward to the debates”, Trump told reporters, saying he regards them as “an important element of what we’re doing”. She said his presidential bid has been “one long insult to all those who have worn the uniform”.

“This is a very consequential relationship”, Clinton said of Washington’s ties with Beijing.

New revelations from notes released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from its July interview with Clinton about her email use showed that she said she did not recall specific training about how to handle classified information, and that she was unaware that confidential material was marked with a “C”. “I’ve always believed that if that were on the table and it were clear we were going to pursue it, that would give us leverage that we don’t have now”.

Clinton also in the interview preview accused Trump of choking and being involved in a “diplomatic incident” in connection with his trip to Mexico, when differing reports came out concerning payment for his planned Mexico/United States border wall. In Ohio – a state no Republican has won the White House without – people can start voting on October 12, a week before the last of three presidential debates. “They will have 30 days to submit to the Oval Office a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS”, he said.

Still, the small ad buy suggests Clinton, for now, is more interested in coaxing Trump or independent groups that back him into spending money in Georgia.

“She doesn’t have the energy to bring ’em back”.

“Can he fundamentally alter the focus of this election right now — which is on him?” asked Bill Lacy, a GOP veteran who ran presidential campaigns for Bob Dole and Fred Thompson.

While Clinton has had interactions with the press during this campaign, they haven’t typically resembled traditional press conferences. He’s zeroed in on her controversial email practices at the State Department, calling her private email server “reckless”. “I’m not concerned about the conspiracy theories”.

On honesty, Clinton’s backers express greater skepticism about their candidate than do Trump’s supporters.