President Trump holds rally in Pennsylvania

Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how President Trump’s rally in Wilkes-Barre played out.

President Donald Trump speaks at a political rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on August 2, 2018.

President Trump delivered remarks tonight at a rally for Rep. Lou Barletta in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

During his speech, Trump touched on his meeting last month with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the upcoming midterm elections and his new strategy for getting funding to build a border wall.

In case you missed it, here are some takeaways from tonight’s rally:

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 2, 2018.

Remember when President Trump got good press? He does.

He waxed nostalgically about those heady New York tabloid days — after spending much of the night railing against the media. 

He continued: “I didn’t need this, but I love it.”

It was a momentary riff in a speech that ran more than an hour. But in the next breath, he called the press “horrible, horrendous people.”

Republican Senate candidate Lou Barletta speaks in front of US President Donald Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania

President Trump raised the prospect of coming to Pennsylvania to watch a debate in the Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican congressman Lou Barletta.

“Is the President of the United States allowed to come and sit in the front row?” Trump asked. 

Campaigning for Barletta tonight, Trump repeatedly assailed Casey, who is favored in the race.

He seemed to be joking about attending a debate, but who knows. 

President Trump came up with an interesting way to get his border wall while holding a rally in Pennsylvania: Reverse psychology.

The President told the crowd he’ll tell Democrats he doesn’t want to build a wall — and then, “they’ll insist on building it.” 

It was the beginning of a familiar ICE, immigration, border wall segment of his rally. 

Trump defended ICE officers, calling them “warriors” and slammed Democrats. 

Trump said he would be “taking some very tough actions.” 

“We need border security. We need border security,” Trump said. 

President Trump said he’d be willing to push the government into a shutdown — either before the midterm elections in November or afterward — if Congress does not change the US immigration laws.

This is not the first time Trump has alluded to a possible shutdown: Trump has said repeatedly threatened push the government into a shutdown ahead of the coming spending deadline in September if Congress does not fund his border wall and change the nation’s immigration laws.

Here’s one tweet threatening a shutdown:

Hours after his national security team stood in the White House and decried Russia’s attack on American democracy, President Trump did not immediately mention election interference at a campaign rally Thursday night, instead referring to it vaguely as “a hoax.”

“In Helsinki, I had a great meeting with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. We got along really well,” Trump said. “By the way, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Now, we’re being hindered by the Russian hoax — it’s a hoax, ok?”

As he defended his summit with Putin — which even many of his most staunch supporters called a debacle — Trump attacked the press and made no mention of election meddling.

“I’ll tell you what, Russia is very unhappy Trump won, that I can tell you,” Trump said, a statement that Putin disputed last month in Helsinki, when he acknowledged he wanted Trump to win.

Trump defended his meeting with Putin, suggesting the criticism was a creation of the press.

The President did not mention how the Wall Street Journal editorial page and other conservative voices assailed his Putin meeting. 

So far at least, his grievance-filled speech in Wilkes-Barre has not touched on one thing: Russian election hacking.

President Trump responded to a “lock her up” chant in Pennsylvania by saying, “Oh no. no. They only want to go after Republicans,” appearing to refer to the Justice Department.

“They don’t want to do anything,” Trump said, adding that things would be changing soon.

Watch the moment:

President Trump, while endorsing Senate candidate Lou Barletta, slammed his opponent and current Sen. Bob Casey, saying he had never met him. 

Trump called Casey “worse” than an obstructionist, adding that he would do whatever House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Chuck Schumer and Rep. Maxine Waters tell him.

Trump said Barletta is running “against somebody who’s so overrated.”

President Trump is speaking right now in Pennsylvania at his rally for Rep. Lou Barletta, who is campaigning to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

You can watch the rally in the player above, or here.

President Trump tweeted earlier today about his trip to Pennsylvania, saying he was looking forward to “campaigning hard” for Rep. Lou Barletta, who is running to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

Trump also said he was bringing back steel “in a VERY BIG way.”

Some background: In February, the Trump administration announced tariffs of 25% on most imported steel and 10% on aluminum imports. Although the tariffs were particularly aimed at combating low-priced steel from China flooding the global market, they have also been imposed on imports from leading US trading partners such as Canada, Mexico and Europe.

Reduced competition from imported steel has allowed domestic producers such as US Steel to raise the prices of their American-made products. But much of its product is sold based on longer term contracts that lock in prices. So there are still price increases ahead for US Steel as those contracts come to an end.

But other US manufacturers, particularly those who use steel, are being hurt by the tariffs and the higher prices that have resulted.

Republican Senate candidate Lou Barletta (L) greets President Donald Trump upon arrival at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Avoca, Pennsylvania on August 2, 2018.

President Trump is hosting a fundraiser tonight for Republican Senate hopeful Lou Barletta, a GOP official tells CNN.

The fundraiser was not identified on the President’s schedule in Wilkes-Barre, but the party official said the fundraiser is underway now. It sold out in less than a day, the official said.

Fundraising has been one of Barletta’s biggest challenges.

Barletta, an early Trump supporter, will be a test case of whether the President can influence a 2018 race. The White House has committed to helping Barletta extensively over the next three months. Look for a rally in Pittsburgh down the road, the official said.

Barletta, a congressman, is running to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. 

President Trump spent a portion of his day tweeting on a variety of topics. Some of them could come up at tonight’s rally in Pennsylvania.

Early this morning, Trump continued his attacks on billionaire Charles Koch — his latest broadside against the conservative donor who is vital to Republican candidates — with this tweet:

Why it matters: Trump’s public attacks against Koch and his brother David, who recently retired, highlight a growing divide between the populist base of the Republican Party represented by the President and the business-minded wing that for years has relied heavily on the Koch brothers’ financial support and influence.

The President then tweeted about Fox News and its ratings. Hours later, he also tweeted about his own approval ratings.

In the afternoon, he weighed in on his daughter Ivanka Trump’s comments about the media (She said the media is not the enemy of the people).

US President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Avoca, Pennsylvania on August 2, 2018.

President Trump has landed in Pennsylvania, where he is holding a rally tonight for Rep. Lou Barletta.

Barletta is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

The rally is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.

President Trump is speaking tonight at a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre Township.

The rally comes a day after Trump took to Twitter to call on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to end special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election.

The President will likely have a lot to say tonight. Here are some topics that could certainly come up:

President Trump is campaigning tonight in Pennsylvania for Rep. Lou Barletta, who’s running to unseat two-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

The rally is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Pennsylvania is one of 10 states with Democratic senators that have Senate elections in 2018.

Barletta was in some ways Trump before Trump.

He was known for his strong anti-illegal-immigration views as the mayor of Hazleton, a city that like the state flipped from Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016.

We’ll have live coverage here later this afternoon.