Trump says he's 'entitled' to attack Harris, hits inflation efforts: 3 takeaways from NJ press conference

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump acknowledged Thursday that he has launched personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris as they fight for control of the White House – and claimed they are justified.

"I think I'm entitled to personal attacks," Trump said during a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club that was slated to focus on the economy and the cost of living.

Flanked by tables stacked with groceries, Trump did hit President Joe Biden and Harris' handling of the American economy. But he also leveled personal insults against his 2024 rival – and used demeaning language to address immigrants in the United States.

Here are USA TODAY's top takeaways from the former president's news conference.

'I'm very angry at her'

Trump said he is "angry" at Harris over the Biden administration's handling of issues ranging from inflation to immigration. He also claimed – without evidence – that she is involved in the criminal cases pending against him, as well as his May conviction in his New York hush money case .

While people "tell me I should be nice," Trump said Harris, Biden and other Democrats "want to put me in prison."

Trump is scheduled to face sentencing in his hush money case next month. The former president also faces criminal cases in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta over alleged efforts to steal the 2020 election from Biden, though the timing in both cases are uncertain. There is no evidence that Harris or Biden have been involved in his indictments.

“I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think she’ll be a terrible president,” Trump added on Thursday.

For days, fellow Republicans have urged Trump to focus on issues against Harris, not personalities; they said his slashing attacks are among the reasons Harris has pulled ahead of Trump in several polls since Biden 's withdrawal from the race. Trump also faced sweeping backlash after questioning the vice president's racial identity during an appearance last month.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said on Fox News this week that the Trump campaign needs to stop "whining."

"The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes ," Haley said. "It's not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb ... you can't win on those things. The American people are smart. Treat them like they're smart."

Responding to the news conference, the Harris campaign didn't have kind words for the former president. It issued a written statement mocking "whatever that was."

Trump "huffed and puffed" while utilizing "his usual lies and delusions," said Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer.

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Economy, cost of living fights

Trump did spend time criticizing the economic record of the Biden-Harris administration, including over inflation and supply chain issues.

Trump conducted the news conference a day before Harris is scheduled to a give a major economic address , including a proposal for a first-ever federal ban on price-gouging from food and grocery industries.

Asked about that proposal, Trump did not respond directly but instead knocked Harris for opposing fracking. He also accused Harris of wanting to put "price controls all over the place, which will end up driving up your prices, not down your prices."

Trump also referred to the rising prices of the groceries arrayed around him, from loaves of bread and Oreos to Fruit Loops and other breakfast cereals. Trump joked that be planned to take some Cheerios back to his cottage at Bedminster.

Americans have struggled with rising prices in recent years, but inflation rates have dropped. The Labor Department announced Wednesday that the 12-month inflation rate had fallen to 2.9%, its lowest level since 2021. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%. Food prices were up 2.2% on the year. Energy prices were up 1.1%, and gasoline prices were down.

Immigration

Trump also spoke at length about another favored topic, illegal border crossings , although he used exaggeration and impossible math.

At one point, Trump claimed that "virtually 100%" of net job creation in the last year has gone to migrants – and "actually beyond the number of 100%."

He also falsely said that Harris "allowed at least 20 million people to invade our country, and she wants to give them all citizenship and free government health care and let them raid Medicare and Social Security."

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that 11 million unauthorized immigrants live in the U.S. as of January 2022. Harris has also not called for granting sweeping access to federal resources for undocumented immigrants.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he's 'entitled' to attack Harris, hits inflation efforts: 3 takeaways from NJ press conference