The Trail 2016: Trumping Terror

by Jonathan Swan - 08/15/16 5:52 PM ET

Welcome to THE TRAIL 2016, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

Standing before a row of American flags in Youngstown, Ohio, Donald Trump tried to present himself as a wartime president in the mould of FDR or Ronald Reagan.

“In the 20th century, the United States has defeated Fascism, Nazism, and Communism. Now a different threat challenges our world,” Trump told the audience.

“Radical Islamic terrorism,” he said, pausing on each word for emphasis.

Trump laid out an anti-terror plan Monday that is more “extreme” – a word Trump himself used on Monday – than anything seen in the post-9/11 era.

Trump promised “extreme vetting” of immigrants, saying that, “the common thread linking the major Islamic terrorist attacks that have recently occurred on our soil…is that they have involved immigrants or the children of immigrants.”

Such tests would include “ideological screening” for immigrants, he said, adding that he’d leave Guantanamo Bay open, stop trying terrorists in civilian courts, and open a commission on radical Islam.

But Vice President Biden wasn’t going to be convinced. Shortly before Trump took the stage, Biden joined Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in another rust belt battleground — his hometown of Scranton, Pa. There, The Hill’s Jordan Fabian reports, Biden torched the Republican nominee, describing Trump as “unqualified” to serve as commander in chief and arguing he lacks the necessary foreign policy knowledge and the willingness to learn.

“If my son were still in Iraq, and I say to all those who are there, the threat to their life has gone up a couple of clicks.”

Trump has a crucial few weeks ahead to convince party leaders that he can close the gap against Clinton – who has opened up double-digit leads nationally and in battleground states Trump needs to win to have a viable path to the White House.

Stay with TheHill.com for every break on this developing story.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

PERJURY DRIVE: The Hill’s Julian Hattem reports: A pair of leading House Republicans on Monday laid out detailed instructions for the Justice Department to file perjury charges against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

RIGHT TO BE BELIEVED: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Hillary Clinton’s campaign reportedly made some edits to the campus sexual assault page on its website shortly after a viral tweet from Juanita Broaddrick – the Arkansas woman who claimed Bill Clinton raped her, Buzzfeed News reported.

TAXING TIMES: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Influential conservative Rep. Steve King (Iowa) on Monday said it may be too late for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

DOUBLE DOWN: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Donald Trump defended his assertion that he opposed the Iraq War from the start at a rally on Monday, a claim undercut by various public statements from before the war.

WALKING IT BACK: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson is backtracking her claim that President Obama took U.S. forces into Afghanistan. “I obviously meant to say Syria and not Afghanistan,” Pierson told the Texas Tribune, according to a report published Monday. But Pierson isn’t backing off the fiery rhetoric. On Monday, she declared that “left-wing reporters literally beat Trump supporters into submission.”

MCMULLIN STRIKES: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin says that Donald Trump “vilifies all Muslims as terrorists” and doesn’t know how to “defeat Islamist terrorism.”

ODDS AND ENDS

NO JOKE: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: The son of assassinated Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin on Monday condemned Donald Trump for seemingly joking about gun owners taking action against Hillary Clinton.

TELL US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK, HARRY! The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) lashed out at Donald Trump Monday, arguing the GOP nominee should have to take a U.S. naturalization test as he prepares to propose new political hurdles for immigrants hoping to come to America.

POLL POSITION

OUCH! The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Hillary Clinton has opened up a giant 30-point lead over Donald Trump in his home state of New York, according to a new Siena College poll.

CLINTON DOMINANT: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Hillary Clinton tops the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency in an NBC News battleground map projection updated Monday.

POLLS FOR PESOS: The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports: The Mexican peso is gaining ground against the U.S. dollar as Donald Trump’s poll numbers sag, and some analysts see a causal link between the two movements.

PAYING NO PRICE: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: A new poll shows most voters are unconcerned by the controversy over Hillary Clinton not holding press conferences.

THE DAILY TRUMP

TRUMP VS THE MEDIA (ROUND 472): The Hill’s Joe Concha reports: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is accusing the media of “trying to rig this election” in a new fundraising email.

NO TRUMP CHANGE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Donald Trump tweeted late Sunday and early Monday that he plans to “remain true to self” despite the urging of Republicans that the GOP presidential nominee change his general-election strategy.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“He would’ve loved Stalin.”

— Vice President Joe Biden, arguing Trump has a fondness for dictators.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

TOOMEY UNDER ATTACK: The Hill’s Peter Sullivan reports: Planned Parenthood’s political action committee is launching $1.3 million in ads against Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) for saying that he wants to ban abortion.

MONEY WATCH

DONOR DISASTER: The Los Angeles Times reports: The father of Sacramento County Rep. Ami Bera should serve a year in federal prison and pay a fine of $130,200 for his role in a multi-year campaign donation scheme, according to a recommendation filed by federal prosecutors.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

(All times Eastern)

President Obama takes a break from his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to headline a fundraising reception this evening for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party in Edgartown, Mass.

Democratic VP nominee Tim Kaine campaigns in Asheville, N.C., at 6:30 p.m. today and in Fayetteville, N.C. at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Donald Trump does a one hour event at 7 p.m. Tuesday with Fox News host Sean Hannity in Milwaukee.

Also on Tuesday, state primaries in Alaska and Wyoming.

TWEET OF THE DAY

And 80% of the Trump children. https://t.co/oPHUzWnFnW

— Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) August 15, 2016

Trump says 9/11, Boston, Orlando attacks all involve “immigrants or children of immigrants.”

That huge category is 37% of US residents.

— Ari Melber MSNBC (@AriMelber) August 15, 2016