Hot Springs, Ark. — A large highway sign on the drive to the Hot Springs Convention Center advertises the town proudly as the “boyhood home of President Bill Clinton.”

But Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was the big name in town here Friday night, where he keynoted the state’s annual GOP dinner, and reminded a crowd of about 1,000 attendees: “By the way, Hillary Clinton, with her husband, deserted Arkansas.”


The state has changed politically since the Clintons were the stars of the Democratic Party here. The state that was once reliably blue has turned red — President Barack Obama lost Arkansas by 24 points in his 2012 reelection campaign. The changing tide was on display in the large, enthusiastic crowd that gave Trump a warm welcome.

Hillary Clinton, who is headlining a Democratic Party dinner in Little Rock on Saturday evening, seemed to be worth no more than a few throw-away insults for Trump, who lumped her together with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as a politician beholden to donors and special interests. “I don’t need money,” he said, “so the real thing is, I don’t owe anybody any favors.”

Trump wasn’t even beholden to a teleprompter or any prepared notes.

In a 40-minute speech, the real-estate mogul and former television personality rambled about his favorite subjects: his high poll numbers (“as you know, I’ve been No.1 in all the polls”); the Iran deal (“disgusting, done by rank amateurs”); the Mexican border (“people are just flowing in”); China (“when was the last time you saw this country beat China in a trade deal?”); and, of course, his personal wealth (over $10 billion!”).

Throughout his stream-of-consciousness remarks, he had one overarching theme: all other nations have smart leaders, and America has inept leaders — but he could change that.

“The Persians are great negotiators,” he said of the Iran deal. “I watched this negotiator on television, after watching for about four minutes, I said there’s no way that [Secretary of State John] Kerry and our people can deal with this guy, he’s too smart.”

Closer to home, “the problem is the Mexican leaders are much sharper and more cunning than our leaders,” he said. “They’re much more cunning!”

He dinged “the genius pundits, who are really dumb people,” for doubting he would really run for president.

“We need smart people,” he said of the Republican Party. “We have to be wise … People are tired of watching us get ripped off. They’re tired of stupidity … I’m, like, this person who knows how the system works, and I made lot of money.”

He criticized Kerry for not pushing harder to bring home the American prisoners still held in Iran, while negotiating a nuclear deal.

“Complicate the deal?” he said, “Hey, we want four people, that’s complicated?”

In Trump’s world view, all his competitors are too inept to “make this country great again.”

“Bush will never have a clue, and Hillary will never have a clue, that I can tell you,” he said. “Who would you rather have negotiating against China or Mexico: Bush, Hillary, or Trump?”

Unlike most presidential candidates, who view the media as second to the voters they are in town to meet, Trump held a 15-minute press availability before his speech. There, he didn’t answer questions so much as use them as prompts to launch into his talking points blasting Obamacare and illegal immigration.

The convention center was teeming with a surprisingly diverse crowd for a Trump dinner just before his arrival. But all of the African American attendees, it became clear, were on site to attend a Jehovah’s Witness conference taking place next door. Trump’s crowd, in the end, was almost completely white.

And the attendees — some of whom paid $350 for dinner and a photo op with Trump — were taken with him.

“I would vote for him today,” said Darich Nations, who works for Arkansas State Parks, and bought a “Trump for President” t-shirt on her way out. “He’s honest. He’s not afraid to say what he’s thinking. He’s not afraid of big government, of foreign governments, of PACs, he’s not owned by anybody.”

Jane Phillips, who works for two local magazines, said she was impressed with his record in New York City, “the hotels, the jobs, creating them in New York,” she said, “It’s really quite amazing.”