Trump talks trade, strength, winning in Fletcher

FLETCHER – Donald Trump on Friday returned to the themes that have animated his presidential candidacy since it began last year - ending job losses due to foreign trade, building a wall on the Mexican border and restoring the nation's world respect.

Trump added an extra dollop of emphasis on trade issues in his speech to 3,100 mostly Tar Heel supporters at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center. He noted the large numbers of manufacturing jobs North Carolina lost after the North American Free Trade Agreement.

And Trump stayed away from another issue that has prompted controversy: whether he would accept the result if he loses Nov. 8.

He said his economic plan is: "Jobs, jobs, jobs. They've been taken away from us. At the center of my jobs plan will be fixing our terrible trade deals."

Since NAFTA was implemented during the presidency of Bill Clinton, Trump said it has been "a one-way highway into Mexico for our jobs, our cash. We get the drugs, they get the jobs and the cash."

He said he would slap a 35 percent tariff on goods made overseas by companies that have shipped jobs outside the country.

“There will be consequences. We’re not going to have companies go to Mexico or some other country," he said. "Guess what’s going to happen? They’re not going to leave anymore because all of a sudden it won’t work. If they do, we’re going to make a lot of money when they ship them across the border.”

The rally was largely free of the violence and confrontations between Trump supporters and protesters that marked a Trump rally in the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville last month.

Only five protesters used a chained-off area designated for them outside the Ag Center's Davis Arena, where the rally was held. Unlike in Asheville, no altercations were visible inside the arena.

Protester Luis Rodriguez of progressive group Progress NC Action said Trump "has emboldened and empowered an undercurrent of hate, misogyny, xenophobia, anti-Muslim … He’s taking (America) back to a time that was horrific.”

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer did not go to the rally site, but said in an emailed statement that Trump's comments on the validity of the coming vote "should deeply trouble all Americans."

The Republican presidential nominee "has now attacked the very legitimacy of this election," Manheimer said. "I'm proud to stand with Americans from across the political spectrum, including the Republican Party of North Carolina, in condemning this unprecedented attack on a pillar of our democracy."

Trump said he would renegotiate NAFTA and consolidate management of trade policy into one office called the "American Desk."

That, he said, would be a big switch from current policies: "We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world."

"We are going to start making things in America again. We are going to start making things in North Carolina again," Trump said.

Cody Jent, a landscaper from Greenville, South Carolina, said Trump's free trade comments resonated with him.

"I see local businesses and I know of some bigger businesses that go off to other countries for better deals," Jent said. "I want to bring back our jobs and our money, because that will make it more fair for Americans."

Trump also promised ethics reforms he said would "drain the swamp" in Washington.

They would include making White House and congressional officials wait five years after leaving their government jobs before becoming lobbyists, establishing a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign governments, and pushing a constitutional amendment to put term limits on members of Congress.

Most polls say Trump is trailing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by margins so large as to raise the possibility of a lopsided result on Election Day.

Trump had been saying the election is "rigged" in the days before Wednesday's debate with Clinton, and his refusal during the debate to say he would accept a loss stirred criticism from people in both political parties.

A statement given by Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, to the News & Observer of Raleigh Thursday was just one example of Republicans distancing themselves from Trump's remarks.

“We at the North Carolina Republican Party are not aware of election results being optional,” Woodhouse said in an email, the newspaper reported.

Republicans control the election apparatus in North Carolina. The governor appoints two of the three members of each county elections board and a majority of the State Elections Board that oversees local boards' activities from Raleigh.

Trump did express confidence Friday that he will win, citing three polls he said have him in the lead.

And, as he has for much of the campaign, Trump said if he wins, America wins.

"You’re going to look back at this this election and say this is is by far the most important vote you’ve ever cast for anyone at any time," he told the crowd near the end of his 41-minute speech. "Starting in 2017, we’re going to start winning again and you’re going to start being really, really proud of your country again."

He closed this way: “We’re going to make America safe again, and we are going to make America great again.”

Staff writers John Boyle and Emily Patrick contributed to this report.