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During Speech in St. Clairsville, Donald Trump Says America Has to Win Again

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses a crowd of about 4,000 at Ohio University Eastern in St. Clairsville Tuesday.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a crowd in St. Clairsville Tuesday he is tired of “America losing,” and he believes it’s time the country take action to start winning again and lead the world.

Trump spoke about the terrorist attacks happening earlier Tuesday in Istanbul as he addressed a capacity crowd estimated at about 4,000 people in the Health and Physical Fitness Center at Ohio University Eastern.

“Folks, there’s something going on that’s really, really bad,” he said. “We better get smart, and we better get tough, or we’re not going to have much of a country left, OK?”

Trump said presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton often has criticized him as having a “terrible temperament.”

“Maybe it’s time we have someone with a strong temperament, I hate to say,” he said. “We’re watching crime after crime, problem after problem. … We don’t win anymore. We used to win. … There were always problems, but we didn’t lose wars. Since Vietnam, we don’t win anymore, and we don’t even fight to win.”

Trump began Tuesday with an afternoon stop in Monessen, Pa., where he gave a speech on the need for fair trade.

After this, Trump boarded a private jet that took him to the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport. He next was transported by motorcade to WesBanco Arena, where Robert Murray, chairman, president and CEO of Murray Energy, hosted an afternoon fundraiser for Trump.

The rally in St. Clairsville was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but actually started a half-hour early. Trump called out from the podium to welcome the later arrivals.

Trump’s words pertaining to halting illegal immigration seemed to resonate most with those attending. When Trump talked about building a wall to separate the U.S. and Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants, the St. Clairsville audience chanted, “Build that wall!”

He told of an illegal immigrant indicted in Lake County, Ohio on multiple counts including murder and attempted rape.

“That immigrant had been previously released through (President) Obama’s non-enforcement policies,” Trump said, prompting a loud chorus of boos from the audience.

Also, Trump drew a connection between illegal immigration and the region’s drug epidemic, citing figures indicating drug-related overdose deaths in Ohio increased by nearly 20 percent between 2013 and 2014.

“So folks, we need the wall — we need to stop illegal immigration,” he said. “We will stop it. We’re not going to have drugs coming into this country and destroying our youth. We’re going to make our country strong again. We’re going to make our country rich again. We’re going to make our country great again. And we’re not going to let our jobs get taken away.”

Trump also talked to the crowd about the state of the American military, which he said now often fights enemies who have better equipment.

He criticized the Obama administration’s discouragement of waterboarding detained terrorists, while terrorists are beheading and drowning those they’ve captured and imprisoned.

“They probably think we’re weak, we’re stupid and don’t know what we’re doing,” Trump said. “We have no leadership. You know, you have to fight fire with fire.”

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