Brianne Pfannenstiel

bpfannenst@dmreg.com

Donald Trump delivered a hard-edged speech on immigration Saturday in Des Moines, capping a week of speculation that he’s softening his previously tough stance.

“These international gangs of thugs and drug cartels will be — I promise you, from the first day in office, the first thing I’m going to do, the first piece of paper that I’m going to sign is — we’re going to get rid of these people, day one, before the wall, before anything," he said to boisterous cheers from a crowd of about 1,800.

Trump headlined U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst's second annual Roast and Ride fundraiser at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. And although he skipped the "ride" portion of the event — a 42-mile, 400-person motorcycle ride through central Iowa — Trump joined a slew of Iowa Republicans for a rallying of the political troops and a family-friendly pork barbecue.

“We will use immigration law to prevent crimes," he said, delivering his remarks off a teleprompter. "And we will not wait until some innocent American has been harmed or killed before taking action. We will move justly, but we will move fast, believe me. And we will move tough.”

OBRADOVICH: Trump in Iowa: Clinton 'doesn't look presidential'

The Republican presidential nominee later welcomed to the stage the family of Sarah Root, a 21-year-old Council Bluffs woman who was killed in a vehicle crash caused by an immigrant in the country illegally.

Trump's appearance comes after a week in which he acknowledged a possible "softening" of his immigration stance, talking broadly about approaching the issue in a more "humane manner."

Trump has built his campaign on a promise to build a wall on the southern border of the United States to keep out undocumented immigrants while also calling for the mass deportation of those in the country illegally. He's pledged to unveil his immigration policy over the next week.

“I am with him 1,000 percent on immigration,” said Diane Brock of Newton, a retired airline operations manager who echoed the sentiments of many attendees. “The illegal alien criminals have got to go. It is not fair to the people who have been waiting to get into this country legally.”

Others said that even if Trump has somewhat softened his stance, they would be unconcerned with a possible reversal in his policy.

"It would be too hard to send everybody back," said Gale Livingston, a retired Ames resident who plans to vote for Trump in November. "He had to soften his stance. It doesn’t make me think less of him. In fact, it makes me think more of him.”

Trump also took some time to give a rhetorical nod to Iowa’s agriculture industry, touching on issues such as the Renewable Fuel Standard, environmental regulations and threats to family farms.

“Family farms are the backbone of this country,” he said, promising to end the "EPA intrusion" into family farms.

Trump promised to protect the Renewable Fuel Standard and corn-based ethanol, eliminate burdensome regulations like the Waters of the United States rule (“which is a disaster”) and provide tax relief.

“President Obama lied to you about his support for the Renewable Fuel Standard,” Trump said. “And you can trust Hillary Clinton far less than you could even Obama.”

Barack Obama campaigned in Iowa on his support of the RFS. But his administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has rolled back the level of ethanol that must be blended into the nation's gasoline.

Democrats, in turn, criticized the gathering, with Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Andy McGuire saying in a statement: "While other Republicans have distanced themselves from Trump’s candidacy and warned of the dangers of his leadership, Iowa Republicans, up and down the ticket, choose to stand with Trump and continue to condone his divisive rhetoric and rationalize his unpredictable behavior."

In advance of the event, the Clinton campaign issued a joint statement from Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Patty Judge and U.S. House candidates Rep. Dave Loebsack, Jim Mowrer and Kim Weaver that said of Trump: “No matter what he says, he can’t revise his history of attacking veterans, women, African-Americans, Latinos and Americans with disabilities. This is who Donald Trump is."

ALSO SATURDAY: Ashton Kutcher to Iowans: Clinton is one of us

The Roast and Ride event was intended to boost support and enthusiasm for Iowa Republicans as they enter the final stretch of the election cycle. Trump praised those Iowa Republican representatives who were on hand, including Ernst; U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley; U.S. Reps. Rod Blum, David Young and Steve King; Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“A lot of states would like to have that roster, believe me," Trump said.

Last year's inaugural event drew seven Republican presidential contenders to Boone, though Trump was not among them. At the time, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was leading the pack of potential candidates, and Iowans still had nearly eight months to decide whom to caucus for.

Saturday, some Iowans said they were still deciding whether they would vote for Trump.

“As far as his overall politics that he has, I’m pretty on board with that," said Carla Davis, a 64-year-old Altoona resident and a registered nurse. "I would just say it’s more personality, demeanor. He’s just so rough around the edges that, you know, it scares me to have him sitting by that red button.”

Davis said she is a registered Republican and won't vote for Democratic nominee Clinton, but she would consider voting for a third-party candidate over Trump.

This was Trump's fourth Iowa event since accepting the GOP nomination last month in Cleveland, and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, also has made two solo stops.

Up for grabs are Iowa's six electoral votes, with recent polling indicating a too-close-to-call race. A Real Clear Politics rolling average of August polls shows Clinton with a slim advantage of 1.5 percentage points — well within the margin of error.

Full speech: Donald Trump at Ernst’s Roast and Ride

Ernst told reporters that if she could give the Trump campaign advice as he courts Iowa voters, it would be to focus on policy issues and Clinton's record.

“Hillary Clinton has given us so much to talk about, really, with the email scandal, her really bad policies overseas," she said. " ... That’s not acceptable — to be doing the name-calling back and forth. They need to focus on the issues."

And Trump remained largely on message Saturday, targeting his attacks to Clinton's policies, resorting only once to personal insult to say he didn’t think Clinton looked presidential — a remark that was not included in prepared remarks released to the media.

The response from those in the audience was largely favorable.

“I thought his comments were pretty good," said John Nahas, a steelworker and Des Moines resident. "We don’t have a country if we don’t have a border. Sanctuary cities are ignoring the law. I think he is a just person and he wouldn’t ignore the law.”

Funds raised at the event will benefit SoldierStrong, a charity for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year's event raised about $15,000 for America's Fund.

Des Moines Register reporter Bill Petroski contributed to this report.