In Wildwood, Donald Trump makes false claim about Penn protests, blasts Chris Christie and Larry Krasner
Trump showed up late, but addressed a large crowd of supporters on the beach about six months ahead of the 2024 election.
Former president Donald Trump spoke for over 90 minutes at a 2024 election rally in Wildwood, N.J. Saturday.
Trump made several inaccurate statements during his speech, including falsely claiming there were riots at the University of Pennsylvania stemming from protests on campus.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, finished Day 15 of his hush-money trial in New York on Friday. It is one of four indictments the former president faces.
Three Wildwood officials, including Mayor Ernie Troiano, face indictments that allege they defrauded the state’s health care system.
New Jersey's primary elections are on June 4. Four Republicans and three Democrats are vying for the Senate seat currently held by Robert Menendez, who may run as an independent.
Wildwood rally shows Trump’s base has only grown louder and prouder since 2016
As former President Donald Trump stood on a stage in the sand in Wildwood, he spoke to a sea of his fiercest fans gathered at the foot of Wildwood’s famous Great White roller coaster.
They poured onto the Wildwood beach hours earlier. Many came in pickup trucks decked out in Trump flags, with license plates from up and down the East Coast.
Trump supporter skipped her kids' dance performance to attend speech
Following Donald Trump's speech, Sally Payano, 46, said she chose to come to his Wildwood rally instead of going to her 3 and 5-year-old children’s dance performance.
“If we don't fix this country, my kid won’t have a future,” she said, sporting a pink Trump hat. “So I had to come here and support President Trump so when my 5 year old, 3 year old, and 6 year old get older like me they will have America. A free America, a healthy America, and a great America like it's supposed to be.”
Trump wraps up Wildwood speech after more than 90 minutes
Donald Trump wrapped his speech in Wildwood a little before 8 p.m., more than 90 minutes after taking the stage.
The sun had started to set and the crowd had thinned by the time he left the stage.
Trump blasts Philly DA Larry Krasner and promises to give cops ‘immunity’
Donald Trump pledged to give members of law enforcement ‘immunity’ so they don’t ‘get sued and lose their families, lose their homes, lose their pensions.’
It’s unclear how he would go about that but Trump has made the pledge since December, seeming to promote a model of policing in which officers can take strong actions without worry of being held liable for their conduct.
Trump's Wildwood crowd begins to leave early during his speech
The crowd that stretched to the back fences of Donald Trump's beachfront rally is beginning to noticeably thin around 45 minutes after he took the stage.
Rallygoers held up MAGA signs as they exited the area.
Trump falsely claims he's been indicted more than famed mobster Al Capone.
During his rally in Wildwood, Donald Trump once again repeated a common but apparently false message he's shared on the campaign trail – that he's been indicted more than mobster Al Capone.
Trump is facing four indictments – two federal, two state, including a New York business fraud case currently on trial in Manhattan.
Trump repeatedly refers to Chris Christie as a 'fat pig'
Donald Trump asked the Wildwood crowd if anyone liked former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the crowd roared “No!”
Trump followed by saying he heard someone call him a “fat pig,” drawing laughs from the audience. Some broke into a chant of “fat pig!”
Trump falsely claims there were riots at Penn
Donald Trump falsely claimed there were riots at the University of Pennsylvania, where the school called in police to end an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian protesters.
"I went to school in Pennsylvania," Trump, a 1968 Wharton graduate, told supporters in Wildwood Saturday. "They're rioting in front of my school all the time. What's going on here?"
Trump takes the stage at Wildwood
President Donald Trump has taken the stage in Wildwood at about 6:20 p.m. He waved to supporters wearing a Make America Great Hat as 'Proud to be an American,' played over the PA system. Some attendees have been on the Wildwood beach since noon awaiting his appearance.
"We love Wildwood," Trump said. He then pledged he would win the state of New Jersey, which has voted Democratic in the presidential election for the last seven elections.
'Give me Trump!': Supporters getting antsy at former president's delayed arrival
After standing for hours and expecting Donald Trump at 5 p.m., attendees were antsy during a narrative-heavy speech by retired British soldier Christian Craighead’s speech around 6 p.m.
Early on in the speech, the crowd clapped and chanted “USA!” while he spoke.
First speaker is Doug Burgum, an unlikely candidate to become Trump's VP
Kicking off Saturday's rally is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has emerged as an "unlikely candidate" to become Donald Trump's running mate, as Politico put it this week.
Burgum's own presidential run was short-lived – he dropped out of the Republican primary in December after garnering very little support. But he endorsed Trump way back in May 2016 and again in January.
Trump running late, expected to speak shortly
Trump was expected to speak at 5 p.m., but the the stage remained empty at 5:30 p.m.
Attendees have been on their feet for hours, with the venue opening at noon.
Trump repeats call to debate Biden, despite neither committing to the schedule
Ahead of his Wildwood rally, a Donald Trump campaign staffer handed out a printout of a March Truth Social post by the former president calling for a debate with Joe Biden. The post was distributed to members of the media and projected on the screens at the rally.
A voice recording played of Trump speaking, starting off by saying he’s ready to debate and ranting about Biden.
Photos: Trump supporters show up in Wildwood
New Hampshire couple show their support for Trump
New Hampshire natives Jack Currier, an engineer, and his wife, Kelly Carter-Currier, a retired teacher, both 62, came to the Wildwood boardwalk Saturday to show support for Donald Trump and hoped to listen to his speech apart from the rally crowd, rather than spend a lot of time standing around.
Currier was wearing a rubber ducky zip-tied to his hat, and his wife, Carter-Currier was prominently displaying a neck piece that featured a New Hampshire license plate emblazoned with “TRUMP.”
Speakers tell rally goers to vote by mail, despite Trump's claims that it's rigged
Republican leaders have been trying to get their supporters to vote by mail, but their sentiments are often contradicted by Donald Trump, who regularly decries the practice and falsely claims that mail voting is corrupt.
» READ MORE: The Pa. GOP is desperate to fix the perception issue over mail voting
Pre-rally entertainment at the Trump rally
Shortly after 2 p.m., “America the Beautiful” played as a man painted an American flag live on stage. He then pulled down from the canvas revealing a portrait of a muscular Donald Trump sporting a “47” T-shirt.
— Aliya Schneider
Sunbathing at the Trump rally
Donald Trump signs haven't been in short supply in Wildwood since the 2016 election, but Saturday's rally took the sloganeering to another level.
Two supporters draped in a black flag walked arm in arm toward Trump's beachfront gathering around 2 p.m. Their sign read: "I'm just glad to be on the side that believes in God, has the most guns, and knows which restroom to use."
Trump supporters descend on Wildwood
Couples and families wearing Trump apparel are easy to spot on the Wildwood boardwalk, with some supporters opting to travel the Shore town in golf carts.
One man walked down the boardwalk shouting, “Biden sniffs children.”
Watch: Why Donald Trump is coming back to Wildwood
— Jenna Miller
Donald Trump rally in Wildwood, N.J.: Start time, how to watch and stream
Former President Donald Trump will return to Wildwood, N.J. today to hold a political rally a little less than six months ahead of the 2024 election.
Trump held a huge rally in Wildwood in January 2020, and was accused by then-mayor Pete Byron of not reimbursing the town for costs associated with the event. This time around, Trump's campaign has already paid $54,000 upfront to cover law enforcement support, according to current Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr.
Trump's rally in Wildwood a break from the courtroom
After a long week in court, Donald Trump is heading to the Jersey Shore. And his campaign says he’ll be joined by “tens of thousands” of his friends.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, expects to draw what his team is calling a “mega crowd” to a Saturday evening rally in the southern New Jersey resort town of Wildwood. It will be held 150 miles south of the New York City courthouse where he has been forced to spend most weekdays sitting silently through his felony hush money trial.
Democrats warn Trump New Jersey 'is not going to be a welcoming place'
U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who represents parts of northern New Jersey, said she expects a lot of people at Donald Trump's rally in Wildwood Saturday will be coming from elsewhere because of the former president's reputation in the Garden State.
“Jersey is not going to be a welcoming place for Trump,” she said in a press call with President Joe Biden’s campaign on Friday.
Wildwood’s mayor invited Donald Trump to use the beach. Here's why.
On a bitterly cold January day in 2020, former President Donald Trump packed the Wildwood Convention Center with supporters at one of his biggest rallies of the last presidential campaign.
Four years later, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. learned Trump wanted a reprise but the old venue was unavailable. He offered another idea:
Like Trump, Wildwood's mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. is also facing legal troubles
The last time Donald Trump came to Wildwood, Pete Byron, a Democrat, was the newly elected mayor. Byron said he was banned by Rep. Jeff Van Drew from attending the Trump rally, despite supporting it as an economic driver for the town then.
Byron’s election seemed to represent a shift away from Trumpism and Troiano, who had been mayor for 19 years. But Byron resigned in September 2023 after he was sentenced following his guilty plea for to tax fraud in federal court.