"So, I just want to tell you the campaign is doing really well. It's never been so well united. We started on June 16 [2015]. I would say right now it's the best in terms of being united that it's been since we began. We're doing incredibly well," Trump said, pointing to polls that show him tied or slightly ahead of Clinton in the battleground states of Florida and Ohio. "So I think we've never been this united."

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Trump once again clashed with leaders of his party Tuesday when he refused to endorse two of its highest-ranking officials, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in their upcoming state primaries. Ryan and McCain have both endorsed Trump, but the nominee said during an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday that he's just not ready to do the same for them. These comments angered and frustrated many party leaders and prompted some of Trump's close political allies — including Newt Gingrich, a former speaker whom Trump considered as a running mate — to publicly urge the nominee to reset his campaign.

But Trump struck an upbeat note during a rally in Daytona Beach on Wednesday afternoon, during which he mostly focused on attacking Clinton and defending himself against a television ad being widely broadcast by Clinton's campaign that recounts a number of his controversial comments during the primary, including seeming to mock a New York Times reporter with a physical disability. He even gave a shout-out to former rival Sen. Marco Rubio — "Go for Marco," he said — plugging the senator's run for reelection in Florida.

This everything-is-fine message was reiterated several times before Trump even took the stage. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, whom Trump briefly considered as a running mate, mocked media outlets that reported that those close to Trump were trying to stage an intervention and marveled at the crowd before him: "This is an intervention. This is an intervention of the people of this country who care about the future," Flynn said.

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"We are having a great time in this campaign," Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump, told the crowd. "We are campaigning joyfully all across this country. And it is such a contrast — it is such a contrast — to the bitter, small, mean-spirited campaign of Hillary Clinton."

On stage, Trump focused his ire on Clinton and the Obama administration in which she served, saying that the United States has become "like a third-world nation," with inadequate infrastructure and too-few jobs. He provided a lengthy critique of the cash payment recently made to Iran as part of the controversial nuclear deal that was negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry. He accused Clinton of being "the founder of ISIS" and of creating the "mess" in Libya, even though he himself once supported intervention there. Trump criticized Clinton for picking Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her running mate instead of someone more like Bernie Sanders. As an agitated protester was removed from the rally, Trump said he expects to win over Sanders supporters and other dissatisfied Democrats.

"Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" Trump pondered at one point. "To lose to Crooked Hillary Clinton? That would be terrible."

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At one point, the crowd started to chant: "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

Trump also warned that crowd that Clinton might appoint Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to the U.S. Supreme Court — and in doing so, repeatedly referred to Warren as "Pocahontas" because of the controversy over Warren previously claiming to have Native American heritage.

"If Hillary puts her people on the Supreme Court — okay? — like, who knows," Trump said. "Elizabeth Warren maybe will go. Maybe. Pocahontas, Pocahontas. They'll put Pocahontas. What an insult to Pocahontas, isn't it? I apologize, ladies and gentlemen, to Pocahontas. But she will put people so far left that our country will become Venezuela."

Trump said that he would instead put "great people" on the court, and he promised to bring back manufacturing jobs, lower taxes, reduce the national debt, build a wall along the border with Mexico, improve medical wait times for military veterans and not be beholden to big donors.