This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

In what was billed as a policy speech to lay out his vision for the first 100 days of his administration, as part of a grand new “Contract for the American Voter”, Donald Trump first pledged to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual assault.



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In response, a spokeswoman for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said the speech was “rambling, unfocused, full of conspiracy theories and attacks on the media”.

Speaking on Saturday near the site where Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address in 1863, Trump did not speak as the 16th president did in his second inaugural: “with malice toward none, with charity for all”.

Instead the Republican nominee proclaimed to an invitation-only crowd: “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign, total fabrication. The events never happened. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”

Trump added: “It was probably the [Democratic National Committee] and the Clinton campaign that put forward these liars with these fabricated stories.”

“We’ll find out at a later date through litigation,” he said, “and I look so forward to it.”

Ten women have accused Trump of sexual assault since the leak two weeks ago of a 2005 Access Hollywood recording, in which the Republican nominee boasted of attempting to “fuck” a married woman and grabbing women’s genitalia without their consent.

In Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, the lawyer Gloria Allred held a press conference at which she introduced an 11th accuser. Jessica Drake, an adult film star and sex educator, detailed what she said was an encounter with Trump at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe “10 years ago”.

When she went with two other women to Trump’s hotel room, Drake said in a statement, he “grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each of us on the lips without asking for permission”. Drake said Trump then offered her $10,000 to return to his room.

In her own statement, Allred said: “Mr Trump, this morning you spoke at Gettysburg where many brave patriots fought and died. You have dishonored their sacrifice by threatening wives, mothers and daughters who have made accusations against you.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately comment on the new allegation.

At Gettysburg, the Republican presidential candidate also railed against the media, singling out the corporate owners of NBC, CNN and the Washington Post, all outlets he has complained about during his campaign, for special scrutiny under a Trump administration.

Of Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal, he said: “It concentrates too much power in one massive entity that tries to tell voters what to think and what to do.”

Trump pledged that his administration would veto the reported acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T, as a matter of policy. Time Warner is the corporate owner of CNN, which carried the Gettysburg speech live.

Trump’s words came after he voiced familiar criticism of the press, because “at my rallies they never show the massive crowd size”.

In a Friday night conference call with reporters, the Trump campaign billed the speech as its version of the Contract with America that was pushed by House Republicans in 1994 as a concrete list of their pledges if elected.

Most of the policy proposals Trump eventually presented were rehashes of proposals that had already been made on the campaign trail. In a speech in June, he outlined some plans for his first 100 days in office.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pete Seville holds a Donald Trump flag near the Eisenhower hotel. Photograph: Mark Makela/Getty Images

On Saturday, Trump reiterated pledges to cut taxes, repeal Obamacare and spur energy production by removing environmental regulations. He also added details to proposals such as those concerning childcare, which he and his daughter Ivanka announced in September and a recent pledge to introduce a constitutional amendment to impose term limits.

Trump also promised to “cancel billions in payments to UN climate change programs” and to suspend immigration from regions “where vetting cannot safely occur”.

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On his signature proposal to build a wall on the US border with Mexico and make Mexico pay for it, Trump offered a subtle change in tone. Although he has long insisted that Mexico will pay for the wall “100%” – and said at Gettysburg “they’ll be happy to pay for it” – he suggested Mexico would now “reimburse” the US for the cost of constructing the barrier.

Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign, responded to the speech in a statement: “Trump’s major new policy was to promise political and legal retribution against the women who have accused him of groping them.



“Like Trump’s campaign, this speech gave us a troubling view as to what a Trump State of the Union [address] would sound like: rambling, unfocused, full of conspiracy theories and attacks on the media, and lacking in any real answers for American families.”

On the Friday night press call, a senior Trump aide contrasted the unveiling of proposals at such a symbolic venue with the actions of the Clinton campaign, who the aide said was “going to sit on [its] lead. They are going run out the clock.”

With 17 days to go until the election, the RealClearPolitics aggregate has national polls showing Clinton with a lead of more than six points.