The subdued speech in Reno saw Trump talk of Americans’ ‘shared humanity’, a sharp contrast with a rally where he trashed the media and political opponents

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump ranted about the media and Republicans in Congress at an angry rally in Phoenix, Arizona, a second version of the president made a subdued pitch for unity in a speech before an annual veterans’ convention.



Sticking to the script in a tame appearance that stood in stark contrast to his fiery tirade the night before, Trump told the American Legion’s national convention in Reno, Nevada, that Americans are “defined by our shared humanity”.

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Trump said: “It is time to heal the wounds that have divided us, and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us. We are one people, with one home, and one flag.”

The tone was markedly different from Trump’s outing Tuesday in Phoenix. In that speech, a rambling Trump trashed his political opponents and sharply criticized the press for its coverage of his response to the attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a white supremacist left one dead and several injured after driving his car into counter-protesters.

A week of Trump speeches began on Monday with a primetime address on US policy in Afghanistan, which he delivered in a sober tone off a teleprompter. But rather than build onf that moment in Phoenix, where Trump had an opportunity to expand upon his foreign policy agenda or make the case for tax reform, he reverted to an incoherent show of defiance.

Although he did not single them out by name, Trump offered veiled criticism of Arizona senators John McCain and Jeff Flake in their home state. He made no mention of McCain’s diagnosis with cancer, nor did he mention the deadly crash on Monday of the USS John S McCain, named for the Arizona senator’s father and grandfather, which left at least 10 American sailors missing and presumed dead.

Trump appeared to relish in his campaign-style rally, tweeting the next morning: “Phoenix crowd last night was amazing – a packed house.”

He also continued to jab at Flake, who faces a rough re-election battle in 2018, this time by name: “I love the great state of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!”

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By contrast, in Reno, Trump noted that Nevada senator Dean Heller, another vulnerable incumbent up for re-election next year, was in attendance and thanked him before the American Legion crowd. Heller and Flake voted in favor of a Republican plan to repeal and replace Barack Obama’s healthcare law last month, underscoring that Trump’s issue with Flake was personal. Flake was one of the few Republican senators who declined to endorse Trump in the 2016 election, and he recently authored a book portraying the president as a threat to conservatism.

Trump’s shots at fellow Republicans, and overall volatility, have become a growing source of frustration on Capitol Hill. House speaker Paul Ryan defended McCain and Flake at a press conference Wednesday, although he stopped short of calling on the president to cease his attacks.

“I think the president feels that’s a strategy that works for him,” Ryan said. “I would just say that I think it’s important that we all stay unified as Republicans to complete our agenda.”

Privately, Republican leaders have become increasingly concerned about Trump’s ability to lead the way on complex negotiations – on not just tax reform, but also the budget and a deadline to raise the debt limit. The president recently made public his feud with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, with whom he has reportedly not spoken in weeks.

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Trump’s turbulent stump appearances and reliable unpredictability have led others in Washington to question his mental state.

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Representative Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California, said Tuesday that there was “a growing mountain of evidence that the president has been very erratic, has shown a mental instability”.

“At some point, we’ve got whispering about this and talking in terms we can all understand,” Speier said in an interview with CNN. “If the emperor has no clothes, then it is time for not just the child to speak up, it is time for members of Congress who serve on behalf of the American people to speak up.”

James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, also questioned Trump’s fitness while reacting to what he dubbed a “disturbing” rally in Phoenix.

“Having some understanding of the levers that a president can exercise, I worry about, frankly, the access to the nuclear codes,” Clapper told CNN.



A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found that 62% of voters believe Trump is doing more to divide the country, his worst score on the question to date. In the same survey, 68% of respondents said Trump is not level-headed.

• This article was amended on 24 August 2017. An earlier version said the USS John S McCain was named after the Arizona senator. This has been corrected to say it was named after his father and grandfather.

