The Guardian

Trump announces ‘Operation Aurora’, hailing it as brutal crackdown on immigrants – as it happened

By Maya Yang Joan E Greve and Lauren Gambino Chris SteinCecilia Nowell,

1 days ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=18rKMU_0w37BHoH00 — Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Aurora, Colorado. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

11.59pm BST

OK, we’re closing down our blog for today. Thanks for reading. Here’s David Smith’s take on Trump’s rally in Aurora:

11.27pm BST

Kamala Harris has tweeted that she will “work to fix our broken system of immigration” if she is elected president.

She wrote: “As president, I will work to fix our broken system of immigration – including securing our border, and offering a humane pathway to earned citizenship for hardworking people. I reject the false choice that we cannot do both.”

11.00pm BST

Summary

Here’s where things stand:

At a rally in Aurora, Colorado, former president Donald Trump announced “Operation Aurora,” a plan to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act if he is re-elected. The law allows the president to detain and deport non‑citizens in times of a declared war or presidentially proclaimed “invasion.” Trump added that he would call “for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer,” indemnify police and ban sanctuary cities.
Speaking at a campaign event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kamala Harris said she would create a bipartisan council of advisors if elected president. Harris has drawn unexpected support from formerly establishment members of the Repubilcan party, like former senator Liz Cheney and vice-president Dick Cheney. Harris is also expected to announce economic policies benefiting Black men next week, just a day after ex-President Barack Obama spoke directly to Black men at an event in Pittsburgh.
Tim Walz , the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, stumped for the union vote in Michigan today, aiming to woo working class voters in a vital swing state. He also denounced Donald Trump for insulting the manufacturing hub of Detroit yesterday, accusing Trump of “manufacturing bullshit”.
Speaking on SiriusXM today, Hilary Clinton warned Kamala Harris to beware the ‘October surprise’ – unexpected events that can happen in the final weeks before the election and upend the race.
Donald Trump ’s campaign requested military vehicles and aircraft to transport and protect the former president, citing fears of an Iranian assassination plot. Joe Biden says his administration will give Trump “all that he needs” to campaign safely, adding “as long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s.”
Gwen Walz , the first lady of Minnesota and wife of governor Tim Walz, is set to hit the campaign trail in Pennsylvania next week to highlight the New Way Forward tour.
Roger Stone , a longtime ally of Trump, has called for “armed guards” at polling spots in a leaked video.

Updated at 11.25pm BST

10.56pm BST

Kamala Harris will participate in a townhall moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper on 23 October. The announcment comes as Harris continues on a media blitz intended to reach undecided voters ahead of the 5 November election.

10.34pm BST

Ahead of her campaign event in Scottsdale, Arizona today Harris spoke by phone with Jewish supporters about antisemitism, her commitment to Israel and the threat posed by Iran, per White House pool reports. The call was billed as “High Holiday Call with Vice-President Kamala Harris” organized by “Jewish Voters for Harris-Walz” (Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, begins today at sundown).

10.04pm BST

Concluding his speech in Aurora, Trump has added that he would ban all sanctuary cities and hopes Colorado will flip red for him.

“I will send Congress a bill to ban all sanctuary cities in our country, including Denver, and we will begin the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States,” he said.

“And Colorado will vote Trump as a protest and signal to the world that we are not going to take it any more. We’re not going to take it any more. I will liberate Colorado.”

Updated at 10.07pm BST

9.47pm BST

Trump announces 'Operation Aurora', signaling deportations of what he claims are gang members

An hour into his Aurora speech, Trump began slowly teasing “Operation Aurora”.

“The invasion will be stopped. The migrant flights will end and Kamala’s app for illegals will be shut down immediately within 24 hours,” he said. “On that same day we will begin the task of finding and deporting every single illegal alien gang member from our country. We’ll get them out, this will be a major national undertaking.”

Minutes later, he announced the policy:

“I’m announcing today that upon taking office, we will have an operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs,” using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

“We will send elite squads of Ice, Border Patrol and federal law enforcement officers to arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country.

“I’m hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer,” he added. “We will achieve complete and total victory over these sadistic monsters.”

The policy would also indemnify local policy of any prosecutions, he said.

Updated at 10.02pm BST

9.35pm BST

Harris to announce economic policies benefiting Black men

As we await any announcements at the Trump rally in Aurora, here’s a bit more news from the Harris campaign: Harris is expected to announce economic policies benefiting Black men next week, just days after ex- president Barack Obama spoke directly to Black men at an event in Pittsburgh.

Speaking at an event for Black voters ahead of his Pittsburgh rally yesterday, Obama questioned Black men’s unwillingness to vote for Harris – a September NAACP poll showed that over one-quarter of Black men under 50 say they will vote for Donald Trump .

“We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running. Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers,” Obama said.

“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses. I’ve got a problem with that.

“Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and reasons for that.”

For more, read our coverage of yesterday’s rally:

Updated at 9.39pm BST

9.30pm BST

While Trump continues his remarks in Aurora, Harris is announcing at a campaign event in Scottsdale, Arizona, that she would create a bipartisan council of advisors if elected president, the Hill reports .

“Not only will I have a Republican in my Cabinet, but I’m also going to – I was talking to my team about it – I want to create some structure around the following. Which is, I love good ideas, wherever they come from, I love good ideas,” Harris said. “Part of what I intend to do … is creating a bipartisan council of advisers who can then give feedback on policy as we go forward.

“We need a healthy two-party system, we have to have a healthy two-party system,” she added, going on to invoke the memory of Senator John McCain.

Updated at 9.38pm BST

9.20pm BST

Trump has rambled off of his main point – immigration – and on to criticizing his opponent’s appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes .

Because CBS edited the interview – which is customary – he is calling once again for CBS to be stripped of its broadcasting license: “CBS gets a license, and the license is based on honesty. I think they have to take their license away.”

For more on that, read Robert Tait’s story in the Guardian from earlier this week:

Updated at 9.21pm BST

9.15pm BST

Trump is expected to announce “Operation Aurora” – which would invoke a 1798 immigration law to allow him to detain and deport non-citizens – at his rally today.

Bloomberg and Fox News have teased the announcement. The Brennan Center for Justice, a progressive non-profit, has explained how Trump has previously described his plans to mobilize the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which never sunseted:

Former President Donald Trump has promised voters that, if re-elected, he would “immediately” invoke the Alien Enemies Act to effect mass deportations of non-citizens from Mexico. He reportedly plans to apply the law broadly, targeting non‑citizens who are not suspected of any cartel involvement or narcotics trafficking. By using the Alien Enemies Act, a law enacted pursuant to Congress’s constitutional war powers , Trump could conduct the deportations summarily, without any of the hearings or other process typically accorded to non-citizens in peacetime and under immigration law.

The Center adds:

The Alien Enemies Act, largely unmodified since 1798, empowers the president to detain and deport non‑citizens in times of a declared war or presidentially proclaimed “invasion” or “predatory incursion” by a foreign nation or government. The law permits the president to target a broad swath of non-citizens, including all “natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects” of the hostile nation or government. It does not distinguish between non-citizens who are unlawfully present in the United States and non‑citizens with established legal status, such as permanent residents.

For those of you who’ve followed along with Trump and Project 2025’s planned use of the 1873 Comstock Act to restrict abortion access in the US, this use of ancient but unrepealed legislation presents an interesting theme.

Updated at 9.23pm BST

9.08pm BST

Good afternoon, Cecilia Nowell here taking over for Chris Stein in the midst of Trump’s anti-immigrant screed in Aurora, Colorado.

Trump just finished showing attendees a four-minute long video, focused on Venezuelan migrants and Kamala Harris, that concluded with the slogan “End the Occupation. Liberate America.” He is now describing the United States as “occupied America” and 5 November, if he is re-elected, as “liberation day”.

Updated at 9.13pm BST

8.57pm BST

Trump repeats anti-migrant claim officials say is exaggerated

Trump is now repeating his claim, which local officials say is an exaggeration, that apartment complexes in Aurora have been taken over by armed Venezuelan gangs, and saying Kamala Harris is to blame.

“Kamala has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world,” Trump said.

“They come from the dungeons, think of that, the dungeons of the third world from prisons and jails, insane asylums and mental institutions, and she has had them resettled beautifully into your community to prey upon innocent American citizens. That’s what they’re doing. And no place is it more evident than right here, because in Aurora, multiple apartment complexes have been taken over by the savage Venezuela prison gang known as Tren de Aragua.”

Tren de Aragua members have been implicated in some violent crimes in Aurora, though city officials have said they are not as widespread as Trump claims.

Updated at 9.21pm BST

8.53pm BST

After several minutes of thanking his supporters and various Republican big shots who are here for the speech (such as Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert ), Trump is finally getting into his speech.

“With the help of everyone here today, 25 days from now, think of it, 25 days, we are going to defeat Kamala Harris, who has no clue what the hell is going on,” Trump said.

8.45pm BST

Donald Trump has finally turned up.

He’s on stage, though he has yet to speak. Instead, he’s gazing out at the cheering audience and bobbing his head as campaign staple God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood plays.

Updated at 8.46pm BST

8.39pm BST

No clue what is keeping Trump. As we wait, let’s read the latest, from NBC News , on the former president’s tendency to skip out on paying the bill for costs incurred by local municipalities when he comes to town:

Former President Donald Trump held a third rally last month in Erie, Pennsylvania, which sits in the northwest corner of a swing state that could decide who wins the White House.
Like the two other times Trump has been to Erie to rev up his supporters, he left without paying the bill.
City officials haven’t yet tallied up what the Trump campaign owes Erie for public safety costs for his most recent rally in September.
But according to a city official, Trump owes the city more than $40,000 for the rallies he held there in 2018 and 2023.
Erie, whose bills were previously reported by the Erie Times-News , isn’t the only city that has hosted Trump rallies and not been paid by the campaign.
Including Erie, four cities and a county confirmed to NBC News that they’re still waiting for the Trump campaign to pay bills often associated with reimbursements for the costs of local law enforcement and other first responder personnel.
The final price tag is more than $750,000 for those five jurisdictions, with some bills dating back eight years.
At the same time, it’s not always clear cut whose legal responsibility it is to foot the bill.
Reached for comment, a Trump campaign official said in a text message that “questions related to local law enforcement and first responder costs should be directed to secret service.”
At least two municipalities seeking reimbursements said they didn’t have formal agreements with the Trump campaign about costs before the events.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told NBC News that it’s the agency, not the campaign, that typically requests local assistance for such campaign activities.
However, the Secret Service “lacks a mechanism to reimburse local governments for their support during protective events,” he said.

Will Aurora be next?

Updated at 8.40pm BST

8.29pm BST

Minutes have ticked by since Stephen Miller wrapped up his remarks, but Trump has not appeared.

The crowd, which is carrying “Trump Vance” signs and in which at least one person is wearing a shirt reading “I’m voting for the felon,” is listening to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Updated at 8.32pm BST

8.13pm BST

Introducing Trump in Aurora is Stephen Miller, an advis er to the ex-president who, during his time in the White House, guided his hardline immigration policies.

Miller is unleashing nativist rhetoric, to cheers from the crowd:

We don’t need, in this country, homeless migrants, criminal migrants. We don’t need migrants consuming and depleting our public resources, overwhelming our public schools, overwhelming our hospitals, taking over our apartment buildings and, yes, murdering innocent Americans.
You have a right to love the community you grew up in. You have a right to love your neighbors as they are. You have a right to want a country that is of, by and for Americans, and only Americans.

Updated at 8.30pm BST

8.10pm BST

Trump to speak in Denver suburb after vilifying migrant community

Donald Trump is scheduled to soon take the stage in Aurora, Colorado, a Denver suburb that he and his allies claim has grown dangerous due to immigrants. Local officials, both Democratic and Republican, have said such statements are exaggerated, but that’s not stopping the former president.

The ex-president is set to speak on a stage decorated with slogans like “deport illegals now”:

Here’s more about the claims his campaign has made about Aurora:

7.47pm BST

Roger Stone, longtime ally of Donald Trump, has called for “armed guards” at polling spots in a leaked video.

The Guardian’s Alice Herman reports:

The longtime Donald Trump ally and friend Roger Stone said Republicans should send “armed guards” to the polls in November to ensure a Trump victory, according to video footage by an undercover journalist.

The video, first published by Rolling Stone, shows an embittered Stone, still angry about the 2020 election and ready to fight in 2024. Stone described the former US president’s legal strategy of constant litigation to purge voter rolls in swing states.

“We gotta fight it out on a state-by-state basis,” said Stone. “We’re already in court in Wisconsin, we’re already in court in Florida.”

When the journalist, posing as a member of a rightwing voter turnout organization, pressed Stone for details on efforts to make sure Trump wins in 2024, Stone told him that the campaign has to “be ready”.

For the full story, click here:

Updated at 8.03pm BST

7.25pm BST

Gwen Walz, the first lady of Minnesota and wife of governor Tim Walz, is set to hit the campaign trail in Pennsylvania to highlight the New Way Forward tour.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Harris-Walz campaign said:

“Next week, first lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz will travel to Pennsylvania to kick off a statewide New Way Forward tour highlighting vice-president Harris and Governor Walz’s vision for a New Way Forward that protects reproductive freedom and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead.
In stark contrast, Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda would raise costs by nearly $4,000 for Pennsylvania families, ban abortion nationwide and cut Social Security and Medicare. With voting under way across the state, Mrs. Walz will also encourage Pennsylvanians to vote early or return their mail ballot, today.
Mrs. Walz will begin her visit on Monday with campaign stops in Philadelphia’s collar counties. On Tuesday, she will begin a bus tour in Harrisburg and Altoona before concluding in Pittsburgh.”

Updated at 8.33pm BST

7.04pm BST

In response to a question on whether he will approve Donald Trump’s request to use military aircraft in the final stages of the presidential campaign, Joe Biden gave a tongue-in-cheek answer to reporters.

“As long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s,” Biden said before following up with, “No, I’m being facetious.”

Updated at 8.04pm BST

6.57pm BST

Biden says administration will give Trump 'all that he needs' to campaign safely

Asked at the White House about a report that Donald Trump ’s campaign has requested the use of military aircraft to keep him safe while campaigning, Joe Biden said that he has told his administration to give his predecessor “all that he needs”.

“I’ve told the department to give him every single thing he needs,” Biden said, adding that, when it comes to security, Trump should be treated “as [if] he were a sitting president. Give all that he needs, if it fits within that category, that’s fine. But if it doesn’t, he shouldn’t.”

6.36pm BST

Not matter who it is asking, JD Vance just will not admit publicly that Donald Trump lost in 2020.

Most notably, the Ohio senator and running mate to Trump would not do so at his debate with Tim Walz , instead giving what the Minnesota Democrat called “a damning non-answer”.

The latest to try and fail is New York Times interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro . You can see the result below:

6.17pm BST

The day so far

Donald Trump will later this afternoon press his anti-immigrant message in Aurora, Colorado, a Denver suburb that he and his allies claim, over the objections of local officials, has become more dangerous because of migrants. This morning, Tim Walz campaigned for working-class voters in battleground state Michigan and decried Trump for “ manufacturing bullshit ” about Detroit, which the former president had insulted to its face just the day before. Hillary Clinton was on SiriusXM warning Kamala Harris to watch out for an October surprise , while the Washington Post reports that Trump campaign has asked for military vehicles and aircraft to protect the former president from an assassination plot by Iran.

Here’s what else has happened today:

Joe Biden will on Sunday visit areas of Florida damaged by Hurricane Milton, the White House announced .
Harris slammed Trump for “ playing political games ” by spreading misinformation about the responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The misinformation over the two storms has become so bad that meteorologists are facing threats .

5.55pm BST

Biden to visit Hurricane-ravaged areas of Florida

Joe Biden will travel to Florida on Sunday to visit areas damaged by Hurricane Milton, the White House announced.

The administration did not provide further details of his itinerary. Biden will visit the state as the Trump campaign attempts to sway voters with criticisms of his administration’s handling of Hurricane Milton, as well as the earlier Hurricane Helene.

We have a live blog covering the recovery from Hurricane Milton, and you can read it here:

5.38pm BST

Speaking of Iran, tensions remain high in Lebanon, while the wider Middle East braces for Israel’s retaliation against the salvo of missiles Tehran launched earlier this month.

We have a live blog covering all the latest news in the crisis, which you can watch here:

5.18pm BST

Fearing threat from Iran, Trump campaign requested military vehicles, aircraft for ex-president

Donald Trump ’s campaign requested military vehicles and aircraft to transport and protect the former president, citing fears of an Iranian assassination plot, the Washington Post reports .

It is an unprecedented request to make, and it’s not clear what has been provided. The request came after suspects with no known connections to Iran tried twice in recent months to assassination the former president. While the Secret Service says it has stepped up its protection of Trump since then, the Post reports that his campaign does not feel their measures are sufficient, citing recent briefings that Iran is still seeking to assassinate him.

Here’s more:

Donald Trump’s campaign requested military aircraft for Trump to fly in during the final weeks of the campaign, expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies, ballistic glass pre-positioned in seven battleground states for the campaign’s use and an array of military vehicles to transport Trump, according to emails reviewed by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter.
The requests are extraordinary and unprecedented — no nominee in recent history has been ferried around in military planes ahead of an election. But the requests came after Trump’s campaign advisers received briefings in which the government said Iran is still actively plotting to kill him, according to the emails reviewed by The Post and the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Trump advisers have grown concerned about drones and missiles, according to the people.
In the emails over the past two weeks from campaign manager Susie Wiles to Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the head of the Secret Service, she expressed displeasure with the Secret Service and said the campaign recently had to cancel a public event at the last minute because of a “lack of personnel” from the Secret Service — instead only putting Trump in a small room with reporters. Wiles said Trump’s campaign is being hampered in its planning because of threats expects to hold far more events in the final weeks of the campaign.
She also wrote that the U.S. government has not been able to provide what the campaign views as an extensive enough plan to protect Trump. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally, also wrote a letter to the Secret Service asking for military aircraft or additional protection for Trump’s private plane, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post.
Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Trump, declined to comment.
Secret Service officials did not answer specific questions about the discussions with the Trump campaign, but spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Trump is receiving “the highest levels of protection.” In a letter to the campaign, Rowe said the government is assessing what can be provided.

5.08pm BST

Hillary Clinton tells Harris: beware the October surprise

It’s a special time of year – the time when the October surprise comes.

The October surprise is a US election mainstay, and refers to the unexpected event or events that can happen in the final weeks before the election and upend the race, typically to one candidate’s advantage and the other’s disadvantage.

Hillary Clinton knows a thing or two about that. This time eight years ago, she was widely viewed as being in pole position to trounce Donald Trump . But on 28 October 2016, then-FBI director James Comey released a letter saying he was reopening an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server. There remains lots of debate over why Clinton went on to lose to Trump days later, but that letter is generally regarded as having a major impact on voters.

Fast forward eight years and no bombshell has yet emerged, 11 days into October. It should also be noted that there was no October surprise four years ago, when Joe Biden sent Trump packing. Nonetheless, Clinton was on SiriusXM today to warn Kamala Harris of the possibility a surprise could be coming. Here’s what she said:

I believe that despite how close it is, she will win and we can all then exhale and get about the business of trying to heal the divisions in our country … I believe strongly that she has to be prepared for any last-minute October surprises that come from the Trump campaign, from their Russian support system that has now been called out numerous times by our own government, that they once again are trying to help Trump get elected … She doesn’t have a Jim Comey, thankfully, waiting in the wings, you know, a knee-capper. But she does have the combined efforts of the Big Lie machine of Trump and the people who support him that she’s going to have to be prepared for. And of course now there’s the added factor of artificial intelligence, and how it can make you look like you’ve said things that you never said because it’s now so much more sophisticated.

Updated at 5.09pm BST

4.46pm BST

As he wrapped up his remarks, Walz took a swing at Project 2025, the rightwing blueprint to remake the US government authored by people in Donald Trump’s orbit.

“I’ve also, at times, said Donald Trump doesn’t have a plan – concept of a plan, at times. That wasn’t exactly correct. He does have a plan. It’s called Project 2025,” Walz said.

He continued:

This thing is a damn nightmare. His project 2025 would repeal the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act – that would threaten hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs, including those right here in Michigan. The ones that JD Vance said, those 650 jobs were table scraps, good-paying union jobs building America, and those are table scraps. He would establish, and every single economist said so, a national sales tax on everything from groceries to prescription drugs.
And the estimates is it would cost each and every one of you $4,000 he says those tariffs that Trump will pay, or that China will pay, Trump’s tariffs – you’re going to pay them. That’s the way it always works.

4.39pm BST

Walz’s speech is aimed squarely at working-class workers, with the vice-presidential candidate accusing Donald Trump of breaking his promises and arguing Kamala Harris would do a better job of growing the manufacturing sector.

“Trump has spent his life talking a big game, but he has been an absolute disaster for working people, one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs of any American president in history. Under Donald Trump, we saw 280,000 Michigan jobs gone, 30,000 of those manufacturing jobs gone, nearly 9,000 auto industry jobs gone. Trump’s presidency was an endless string of broken promises,” Walz said.

In his rapid-fire style, he then told the crowd about what Harris would do, if elected:

Let me tell you exactly what vice-president Harris and I will do. We’re going to create an American forward strategy for manufacturing, one that builds on the historic investments, bipartisan infrastructure, law, Chips act, science act, Inflation Reduction Act, creating all kinds of new opportunities, ones that empowers American workers, revitalizes manufacturing communities, leads us into an industries of the future and keep out innovating and out competing the rest of the world.
We never fear the future. You build the future, and this gives us the opportunity to do it.

4.35pm BST

Walz defends Detroit from Trump insult, accusing him of ‘manufacturing bullshit’

Tim Walz just opened fire on Donald Trump , who yesterday insulted nearby Detroit during a visit to the city.

Speaking at a community college in Macomb county, which is part of the Detroit, metro area, Walz reminded the crowd of what Trump said yesterday: “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if [Kamala Harris is] your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

Then Walz told the crowd:

If the guy would have ever spent any time in the midwest, like all of us know, we’d know Detroit’s experience in American comeback and Renaissance.
…
We know the city’s growing. Crime’s down. Factories are opening up. But those guys, all they know about manufacturing is manufacturing bullshit every time they show up.

Here’s more on what Trump said:

Updated at 5.55pm BST

4.25pm BST

Walz stumps for union vote in Michigan

Tim Walz , the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is onstage in Macomb county, Michigan, aiming to woo working class voters in a vital state with an event centered on his campaign’s support for unions.

He began with words about the two recent hurricanes that have upended life in parts of the southeastern United States:

Our hearts are going out to those communities across the southeast that have been devastated by Helene and then Milton. Vice President Harris, President Biden, watching developments closely, working with states, local governments and the governors, shall stand with the people of the region every step of the way until this recovery and rebuilding is done from these storms, because that’s what Americans do at a time of crisis.

4.22pm BST

Trump set to drive anti-immigrant message in Colorado rally

Donald Trump will this afternoon hold a rally in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado – which is not a swing state.

So why is the former president going there? It’s all due to immigration, which Aurora has seen a lot of, and which Trump has made a focus of his campaign, spreading factually wobbly allegations that new arrivals in the United States are committing crimes.

Crime is generally on the downslope in Aurora, as it is nationally, but Trump has made reports of shootings and potentially a murder connected to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a talking point at recent rallies, and is set to drive the message in person during his 3pm rally in the suburb.

“Aurora, Colorado has become a ‘war zone’ due to the influx of violent Venezuelan prison gang members from Tren de Aragua,” his campaign said in announcing the rally.

“Kamala Harris’ open-border policies are turning once-safe communities into nightmares for law-abiding citizens.”

As the Guardian’s Josiah Hesse reports, all signs point to Trump and his allies greatly exaggerating the situation in Aurora:

4.03pm BST

Meteorologists are also facing threats as conspiracy theories swirl in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Guardian’s Oliver Milman reports:

Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US.

The extent of the misinformation, which has been stoked by Donald Trump and his followers, has been such that it has stymied the ability to help hurricane-hit communities, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

Katie Nickolaou, a Michigan-based meteorologist, said that she and her colleagues have borne the brunt of much of these conspiracies, having received messages claiming there are category 6 hurricanes (there aren’t), that meteorologists or the government are creating and directing hurricanes (they aren’t) and even that scientists should be killed and radar equipment be demolished.

“I’ve never seen a storm garner so much misinformation, we have just been putting out fires of wrong information everywhere,” Nickolaou said.

Read the Guardian’s full report:

3.48pm BST

Harris accuses Trump of 'playing political games' over hurricane response

Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump ’s attacks on the Biden administration’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton yesterday, accusing Republicans of “playing political games” while Americans are suffering.

Speaking at a town hall hosted by Univision on Thursday, Harris lamented the “mis- and disinformation” about the White House’s response efforts.

“People are playing political games, suggesting that resources and support is only going to certain people based on a political agenda, and this is just not accurate,” Harris said.

Harris noted she has traveled to states affected by the storms, including Georgia and North Carolina, to ensure victims know they are entitled to government relief as they attempt to rebuild.

Trump and his Republican allies have falsely accused Democrats of redirecting recovery resources toward migrants instead of helping victims of the storm, and Joe Biden warned yesterday that the baseless accusations are causing threats against response workers.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Biden delivered this sharp rebuke to Trump: “Get a life, man. Help these people.”

3.27pm BST

During his event in Warren, Michigan, today, Tim Walz is expected to defend Kamala Harris for casting the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, according to speech excerpts shared by a senior campaign official.

The law allowed for a $500m investment to refurbish a General Motors plant in Lansing, but JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, recently mocked that grant as “table scraps”. Vance also dodged questions about whether the Trump administration would move forward with Joe Biden ’s investments in electric vehicles.

“Table scraps! Tell that to the 650 families who rely on them for putting food on the table,” Walz will say in Warren. “These guys couldn’t care less about Michigan workers.”

3.13pm BST

Walz to denounce Trump's manufacturing record

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, will denounce Donald Trump ’s record on supporting US manufacturing during a campaign appearance in the battleground state of Michigan today.

According to speech excerpts shared by a senior Harris campaign adviser, Walz will use his event in Warren, Michigan, to criticize Trump’s “broken promises” to workers and celebrate Detroit’s “great American comeback”.

“Crime is down. The city is growing. Factories are opening again. All these guys know about manufacturing is how to manufacture bullshit,” Walz is expected to say.

“Trump’s presidency was an endless string of broken promises. He actually came here to Warren when he ran the first time and promised that, under a Trump presidency, ‘you won’t lose one plant.’ I guess, technically, that wasn’t a lie — because he lost six of them across the country.”

Walz will also dismiss concerns about Democrats mandating the use of electric vehicles, which has become a talking point among Trump and his allies.

“People are looking for choices — and we need to make those choices more affordable,” Walz will say. “Nobody’s mandating anything. If you want to drive a ‘79 International Harvester Scout like I do, knock yourself out.”

2.52pm BST

Obama takes down Trump's lies and fake 'strength' - urging men to 'show real strength' and vote Harris

Good morning, US politics blog readers, there’s another busy news day in store and we’ll keep up with all the developments as they happen. Party politics has seeped further into hurricane news, and you can follow all that in our storm blog , here.

Elsewhere, much is afoot on the campaign trail. Here’s what’s in store.

Barack Obama said he had “a problem” with men who keep coming up with bogus excuses not to vote for Kamala Harris and leaning into Donald Trump’s macho aggression, in his first appearance on the campaign trail for the Democrats in Pittsburgh yesterday, in the must-win state of Pennsylvania. Expect more events with the former, two-term president.
The former president told the crowd: “I’m sorry, gentlemen, I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior of bullying and putting people down is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you: that is not what real strength is.
”It never has been. Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves, that is what we should want for our daughters and for our sons, and that is what I want to see a president of the United States of America.”
Obama also condemned Trump’s spreading of disinformation about the hurricane , railing against “the idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments”. He highlighted that lies may discourage some of the people affected from seeking help . Visibly emotional, Obama asked: “When did that become OK?”
The Democratic governors of three vital battleground states, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, are going to hit the trail together.
Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and Wisconsin’s Tony Evers plan a midwestern bus tour from next week, called Driving Forward , Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell PAC said and Axios reported this morning.
Bill Clinton , who maybe didn’t set the Democratic voting world alight with his lengthy address at the party’s convention in August but is nevertheless always a big name in US politics, is going to Georgia this weekend and then North Carolina, where Trump is marginally ahead in the polls and it’s all hands on deck for the Dems.
Tim Walz , Kamala Harris’s vice presidential pick, is going to do a TV interview blitz in, where else, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the coming days, Axios reports.
Donald Trump will speak in Aurora, Colorado, this afternoon, a state that’s confidently Democratic these days, but the former president plans to slam it to migrants and asylum seekers again, planning to make claims about Venezuelans and crime levels.
This comes after Trump again used brutal language to undercut United States allies in the NATO alliance, saying “we will not protect you” from Russia if they don’t spend as much as they should on paper on their militaries. Trump was speaking in Detroit.