VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Republican Donald Trump pledged Monday to expand programs that allow veterans to choose their doctor and clinics -- regardless of whether they're affiliated with Department of Veterans Affairs -- and still receive government-paid medical care.

In a policy speech announcing a 10-point plan for veterans, Trump said he "begins with a simple promise: Every veteran will get timely access to top-quality care."

His plan was not a way to privatize the VA, as some critics have charged, but instead was "a way of not allowing people to die waiting for doctors," Trump said.

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Trump said people are "are dying because they can't even get to see a doctor. This is a way that we're going to end that."

"Never again will we allow a veteran to suffer or die waiting for the care they so richly deserve," he said.

Trump was referring to a 2014 scandal in which as many as 40 veterans died while waiting for care at a Phoenix VA hospital. Similar problems were soon discovered nationwide, and reports revealed that veterans were waiting months for medical care even as VA employees created secret waiting lists and other falsehoods to cover up the delays.

Trump called problems at the VA under President Barack Obama "widespread and totally inexcusable" and said that under his leadership, "We are going to save money and we are going to save lives."

A spokesman for Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign said Trump's plan would "irreversibly" lead to privatization of the VA.

Trump's plan "is not a fix at all; it's an ideological crusade" that "would gut the VA of the resources needed to provide high-quality, coordinated care," said Bishop Garrison, an Army veteran and Clinton adviser.

The American Federation of Government Employees, a federal employee union, called Trump's plan privatization by another name.

"Donald Trump wants to throw veterans to the wolves," said the group's president, J. David Cox.

Cox accused Trump of "writing a blank check to huge hospital corporations to profit off the suffering of veterans."

Trump also said Monday he will crack down on wrongdoing at the VA.

"We made a promise to these heroes. You defend America, and America will defend you," he said in a speech, adding that he would fire or discipline VA employees who "fail our veterans" or breach the public trust.

In an interview after the speech, Trump offered few specifics beyond the 10-point plan, which includes an increase in mental health professionals and a special "White House hotline" dedicated to veterans. But he said he was confident it would save taxpayers money.

"I think it's going to cost less money than what's happening now," he said.

Asked how he would negotiate due-process laws that have made it difficult for the VA to fire employees accused of wrongdoing, Trump said that would be no problem.

"We're going to create a system where we get it done," he said.

Asked about union objections, Trump said he has "been dealing with unions all my life. And you can deal with unions if you know what you're doing."

Trump has been working to repair his relationship with veterans since he suggested early in his campaign that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was not a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War. Trump also earlier this year did not immediately disclose which veterans' charities had received money from a fundraiser he'd held instead of attending a GOP debate.

Also on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders acknowledged what had already been widely reported: He plans to join Clinton on the campaign trail in New Hampshire today.

An advisory sent out by the campaign of Sanders, who finished the primary season with the second-highest number of pledged Democratic delegates, said he would join Clinton at a morning rally previously advertised by her campaign at a Portsmouth high school.

While aides to both campaigns have said that an endorsement is coming, the Sanders advisory only allows that he and Clinton will discuss "their commitment to building an America that is stronger together and an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top."

Though Clinton has been the Democrats' presumptive nominee for more than a month, Sanders has been slow to formally endorse her presidential bid, instead maneuvering to win commitments from Clinton and the Democratic Party to incorporate portions of his agenda into theirs.

GOP staff lacking

Meanwhile, the national GOP has delivered only a fraction of the ground forces detailed in discussions with state leaders earlier in the year, a state-by-state review conducted by The Associated Press has found.

Ohio Republicans thought they were going to see 220 paid staff members by May; in reality there are about 50. Plans for Pennsylvania called for 190 paid staff members; there are about 60. Iowa's planned ground force of 66 by May actually numbers between 25 and 30. In Colorado, recent staff departures have left about two dozen employees, instead of the 80 that were to have been in place.

The AP learned of the specific May staffing aims from Republicans who were briefed earlier this year; the Republican National Committee did not dispute them. Current totals came from interviews with local GOP leaders over the past two weeks.

The gulf between what state leaders thought they could count on and what they've actually got comes as the committee's ground game is asked to do more than ever before. Trump is relying on the party to do most of the nuts-and-bolts work of finding and persuading voters in the nation's most competitive battlegrounds.

"This is a race we should win," Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges said, citing a voter registration boom. "Now, we have to put the people in the field."

In New Hampshire, a swing state that also features one of the nation's most competitive Senate contests, the Republican National Committee's original plan called for more than 30 paid staff on the ground by May. Yet what's happening there highlights that even when the party is close to meeting its staffing goals, there can be problems. In this case, 20 positions have been converted to part-time, and local officials have been struggling to fill them.

"It's a tall order to ask the RNC to be the complete field operation for the presidential nominee," said Steve Duprey, a national party committeeman from New Hampshire. "We're following through on the plan, but it was slower being implemented than we first would have hoped."

Borges and Duprey, like Republican leaders across the nation, acknowledged that the national party has reduced its staffing plans in recent months.

"You discuss idealistic, you discuss realistic," said the Republican National Committee's political director Chris Carr. "Some people hear what they want to hear."

Party officials say they are confident they will raise enough money to maintain -- and very likely boost -- the current level of employees until Election Day. Trump, who did not actively raise money during the primary season, touted strong fundraising numbers in late May and June, including $25 million that will be shared with the party.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Daly, Jill Colvin, Jonathan Lemire, Steve Peoples, Julie Bykowicz, Chad Day, Scott Bauer, Bill Barrow, Catherine Lucey, Julie Carr Smyth, Marc Levy, Nicholas Riccardi and Michelle Rindels of The Associated Press; and by John Wagner of The Washington Post.

A Section on 07/12/2016