The presidential candidate of the American Republicans, Donald Trump, is holding the first outdoor rally today after the assassination in the American state of Pennsylvania last month.
The podium at the Aviation Museum in North Carolina, where he is scheduled to speak this afternoon local time on national security issues, is surrounded by bulletproof glass that forms a kind of protective wall around the stage.
Containers are stacked around to create additional "walls" and block sight lines. Snipers are positioned on rooftops around the rally venue, where an old airplane sits behind the stage and a large American flag is hoisted on cranes.
The event is part of Trump's series of rallies this week intended as a counterweight to the Democratic National Convention, which runs Monday through Thursday in Chicago.
Allies have urged him to focus on policy rather than personal attacks as he adjusts to being challenged in November's presidential election by incumbent US Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joseph Biden voluntarily dropped out of the race.
Trump was joined today by his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who portrayed Kamala Harris as a candidate chosen by the powerful, not the voters, and criticized her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, before Trump took the stage.
Trump visited key states this Sunday and made the most appearances in the campaign since the intra-party Republican elections for the presidential nomination were held.
Reflecting the importance of the state of North Carolina to this year's election, this is Trump's second visit to the state in the past week. Last Wednesday he appeared in Asheville, North Carolina, where he spoke about the economy.
Trump won North Carolina with a comfortable majority in 2016. He won in that state four years ago, but with the smallest margin of any state, and this year 2024, it is also considered to be one of the key states for success in the elections.
Before arriving at the rally, Trump's plane flew over the meeting place to the loud approval of the crowd.
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