On Sunday, American Republican presidential candidate Trump (Trump) made his first campaign speech at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City, known as “the most famous sports arena in the world.” In front of tens of thousands of supporters, he promised to end inflation in the United States, secure the southern border, and resolve issues such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East if elected. While many of his policies and positions have been previously articulated, Trump still managed to bring several notable highlights to this rally.
During the event, Trump proposed providing tax credits for Americans who care for family members at home, directly reducing the tax burden for this group of people.
“I am announcing a new policy today, I support providing tax credits for family caregivers who take care of parents or relatives. It’s time to recognize them, isn’t it? They have made tremendous contributions to our country, but no one has ever mentioned them, never, never, never, but now they will be mentioned,” Trump said at the rally.
Although Trump did not provide detailed information about the tax reduction proposal, the Republican Party’s platform released this summer stated: “The Republican Party will reinvest resources in home care for the elderly, address the shortage of caregivers, and support unpaid family caregivers through tax credits and reducing cumbersome administrative procedures.”
Trump’s opponent, Kamala Harris, proposed expanding healthcare to cover home care services for the elderly earlier this month.
During his appearance alongside Federal Congressman Matt Gaetz (Republican of Florida), Trump mentioned a “little secret” that would help the Republican Party gain an advantage in this election and maintain control of the House of Representatives.
“I believe we must get this congressman elected and senators elected because we can easily win the Senate,” Trump said. “I think with our little secret, we are going to do very well in the House, right? Our little secret is having a major impact. He and I have a secret. We will tell you what the secret is after the election.”
Currently, the Republican Party holds a narrow majority of 8 seats in the House of Representatives.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s analysis, the Republican Party is slightly ahead in the House elections phase with a 52-48 advantage.
In the evaluation by the Cook Political Report, there are over twenty House elections rated as “toss-up” or “too close to call.”
Trump reiterated a story about a phone call he received from Google CEO Sundar Pichai during his visit to a McDonald’s in Philadelphia on October 20. Pichai informed him that the event at the McDonald’s had generated a significant amount of online traffic.
“I got a call from Sundar, a very smart guy at Google,” Trump said. “He calls up and said, ‘We got more clicks on this thing at McDonald’s…I think, than any exposure we’ve ever had in the past.’ But, it’s like close. It’s similar.”
Moreover, during an interview with conservative commentator Joe Rogan earlier this week, Trump also shared this story.
Google has not yet responded to Trump’s remarks.
Trump visited a McDonald’s in Philadelphia on October 20, where he personally fried fries for customers and handed over the fried fries at the drive-thru window. This visit by Trump to McDonald’s was widely seen as a response to Harris, who often mentions her experience working at McDonald’s.
Earlier this month, Trump revealed that he had called the head of Google to complain about the way Google’s search engine exposed his campaign.
“They treat me very poorly, very, very badly,” Trump said at a forum at the Economic Club of Chicago on October 15. “They only have bad news. In other words, if I have 20 pieces of good news and 20 pieces of bad news, they only show the 20 pieces of bad news.”
“I called the head of Google the other day,” Trump added. “I said, ‘Look, […] I think they’re trying to suppress our stories.'”
Trump spent about five minutes praising SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk had campaigned for him in Pennsylvania.
When he first saw the giant Starship booster successfully land back intact, Trump was on the phone with the billionaire. The 233-foot-tall Super Heavy booster fell from 40 miles up, slowed down, and landed precisely, gently caught by the extendable arm at the top of the tower.
“I called [Musk], I said, ‘Elon, was that you just did that?’ About four minutes later, I said, ‘Was that you just did that?’ And [Musk] said, ‘Yes, that was me.’ I said, ‘Elon, you’re a genius. You really are a genius,” Trump recounted.
“I said, ‘Elon, let me ask you a question. Can Russia do that?’ [He said,] ‘No.’ ‘Can China do that?’ [He said,] ‘No.’ ‘Who else can do that besides you?’ [He said,] ‘Nobody.’ And he said these guys won’t be able to do it for ten years,” Trump continued.
Musk has donated tens of millions of dollars to political action committees supporting Trump.
Before Trump took the stage at Madison Square Garden, the tech giant briefly spoke and introduced Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, who took the stage.
In other news, last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was formally charged with five federal crimes, including bribery, telecommunications fraud, and accepting donations from foreign nationals.
Trump hinted on Sunday that Adams was indicted as a punishment for publicly opposing the Biden administration’s border policies.
“When [Adams] said New York City couldn’t take these immigrants coming in, he said it wasn’t sustainable…it didn’t work,” Trump said. “He put it so mildly. I said, ‘These nuts are going to get him indicted.’ A year later, he was indicted.”
Trump also made similar remarks during a speech at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.
Adams stated last year that the immigration crisis would “ruin” New York City, and he said he did not see an end to the problem. Prior to Trump’s rally, Adams dismissed recent attacks on Trump and said the Madison Square Garden event should go on as planned.
The mayor’s office has not responded to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.