BISMARCK, N.D. — Donald Trump entered the room and before facing the assemblage of reporters, he shook hands with the 21 formerly unbound North Dakota delegates who had hours earlier committed to putting him past the 1,237 threshold needed to clinch the GOP’s presidential nomination.

“The folks behind me got us right over the top. North Dakota made a very big statement,” Trump said. “We will not forget it.”


That, however, was where the humility stopped. Almost immediately, Trump turned back to his blustery, bragging and unapologetic self.

In a 30-minute news conference and the policy speech delivered afterward to a cheering crowd of more than 6,000 people, Trump answered attacks from President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren by insulting them in return. Rather than disputing the Democrats’ characterization of him as a greedy businessman who doesn’t much care about the rest of the world, Trump practically embraced it, emphasizing that he really only does care about America and that he plans to make it great by making it rich.

Laying out an “America First” energy plan weeks after sketching an “America First” foreign policy in another speech, Trump scoffed at Obama’s claim Thursday that world leaders are “rattled” by the new GOP standard-bearer’s unpredictability and seeming incuriosity about the rest of the world. Blasting Obama for “doing a horrible job,” Trump told reporters it’s about time world leaders feel threatened by the United States.

“When you rattle someone that’s good,” Trump said. “Many of the countries in our beautiful world have been absolutely abusing us and taking advantage of us. If they’re rattled about us in a good way, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Later, as he spoke to an arena full of cheering supporters, he vowed to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement and to make America energy independent.

“We can worry about China later, folks,” Trump said, noting “other countries cheat us like dogs.”

Amid attacks from Clinton and Warren that he rooted for the 2008 economic collapse because he was able to profit personally from the real estate market’s collapse, Trump made no effort to conceal his belief in the gospel of wealth.

“We’re going to make America wealthy again,” Trump said toward the end of his speech. “You have to be wealthy in order to be great, I’m sorry to say.”

Trump’s central argument against Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, is that he, as a businessman, will create private-sector jobs. Clinton won’t, Trump said, arguing several times that, “Her husband signed NAFTA.” But the Manhattan real estate mogul, famous from his years as a reality TV star cultivating a personal brand of material success and the opulence it affords, pitched his energy plan like a QVC salesman promising buyers a guaranteed windfall so long as they buy his product.

“It comes down to wealth versus poverty,” he said. “North Dakota shows how energy exportation creates shared prosperity, more funding for infrastructure … It’s a choice between sharing in this great energy wealth or sharing in the poverty promised by Hillary Clinton.”

Trump cited industry analysts’ predictions that shale energy production could add $2 billion over 7 years, gleefully proclaiming that the country is sitting on a winning lottery ticket he would quickly cash in. “We’re loaded and we didn’t even know,” he said, noting that the U.S. is “richer” than all of the other countries on which it currently depends for energy imports.

The heightened focus on policy is part of an ongoing effort by Trump’s campaign to present a more substantive message and presidential bearing as the candidate pivots to general election mode. But the energy speech included few specific ideas beyond rolling back Obama administration fuel mandates and approving the Keystone XL pipeline that Obama has rejected.

Moreover, Trump did little to temper his overall tone, something establishment Republicans who’ve yet to endorse him are waiting to see. During his news conference, he continued to refer to Warren as “Pocahontas,” a pointed reference to her claims of Cherokee ancestry. “That’s very offensive,” a blogger of Native American descent shouted back at Trump, who shrugged. “Sorry,” he said, and continued on with his rant.

Trump also told reporters he believed New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez would probably be endorsing him soon, even after he attacked her two days earlier simply because she hasn’t done so already. He also claimed to have had a “good conversation” Wednesday night with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who also has yet to back Trump.

“He’s calibrating how tough a tone he should take,” one Trump campaign source said. “But there’s still that message being sent that he’s willing to stand up to people and that’s important to people, that here’s a guy who is willing to just walk into the lion’s den and have it out.”

Trump recognizes that his persona as an anti-politician is an elemental aspect of his appeal. As he offered his closing argument to the crowd rising to its feet, whistling and whooping loudly inside the Bismarck Events Center, he continued to emphasize himself as something altogether different from what Clinton, the Democrats and even the other Republicans in his party are offering. His supporters heard a champion, a leader they trust, while detractors heard the words of a dangerous demagogue.

“Politicians have used you and stolen your votes. They have given you nothing,” Trump told the crowd. “I will give you everything. I will give you what you’ve been looking for for 50 years.

“I’m the only one.”