RENO, Nev. -- President Donald Trump called for unity in a speech at the American Legion's 99th national convention in Reno, just hours after a raucous campaign-style rally in which he lambasted the media and his political rivals, and reignited the controversy over his response to a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., this month.
"It is time to heal the wounds that have divided us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us," Trump said, speaking before more than 5,000 members of the nation's largest veterans group. "We are one people, with one home, and one flag."
"We are not defined by the color of our skin, the figure on our paycheck or the party of our politics," Trump continued.
Trump said "shared humanity," "citizenship" and patriotism could heal the nation's political and racial divides, and he heralded the work of the Legion in promoting American values.
Trump's remarks came as he faces continued pressure to stem racial animosities exposed in a rally in Charlottesville, Va., this month, which was organized by white supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi sympathizers.
The president's comments Wednesday were an abrupt change from his posture hours earlier at a rally in Phoenix, when he railed against the "dishonest" media for its coverage of his remarks on the Charlottesville violence. Initially, he had blamed "many sides" for the Charlottesville clashes and did not specifically criticize the KKK or the other white-supremacist groups that planned the event.
His first statement was widely condemned, including by lawmakers in his own party, prompting Trump to issue new, scripted comments that specifically named the hate groups. But even after modifying his initial remarks, Trump reverted back to his original stance, claiming at a news conference later in the week that there were "fine people" among the hate groups that had gathered to protest the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville.
At his Phoenix campaign rally Tuesday night, Trump reread his comments on the Charlottesville violence but omitted the words "many sides." And he blamed the media for accusing him of being racist.
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"I hit him with neo-Nazi. I hit them with everything. I got the white supremacists, the neo-Nazi. I got them all in there, let's say. KKK, we have KKK. I got them all," Trump said in Phoenix about his initial Charlottesville statement. "So what are they saying, right? It should have been sooner. He's a racist. It should have been sooner, OK."
But Wednesday in Reno, Trump appeared to stick to his script, focusing on his administration's efforts to improve services for veterans.
After his speech Wednesday, he signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, which overhauls the process by which veterans can appeal their claims for disability benefits with Veterans Affairs.
"I promised you that I would make it my priority to fix the broken VA and to deliver to our veterans the care they so richly deserve," Trump said. "And you see what's been happening. Now you have a true reformer in Secretary David Shulkin."
Shulkin served as VA undersecretary for Health under President Barack Obama before Trump named him VA secretary in January.
Trump's handling of the recent race-related violence overshadowed his appearance Wednesday before the group of veterans that included some who fought Nazism and fascism in World War II.
The day before Trump's appearance, the Legion voted to reaffirm a nearly 100-year-old resolution condemning hate groups.
The resolution states that "the American Legion considers any individual, group of individuals, or organizations, which creates, or fosters racial, religious or class strife among our people, or which takes into their own hands the enforcement of law, determination of guilt, or infliction of punishment, to be un-American, a menace to our liberties, and destructive to our fundamental law."
Despite the recent controversy, veterans generally have been supportive of Trump.
When Medal of Honor recipient Donald Ballard joined the president onstage and offered praise for Trump, the president smiled and praised Ballard's declaration that Trump was "the right leader to lead us out to drain the swamp."
"That was very risky of me," Trump told the veterans, explaining that he didn't know in advance what Ballard would say after taking the stage. "That could ruin the whole day for me."
CALL FOR THE WALL
Despite calling for unity Wednesday, Trump threatened the day before to shut down the government in a matter of weeks if Congress does not fund a wall on the southern border, a signature promise of his campaign for the White House.
Trump followed up on that threat Wednesday by going after U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has been skeptical about building a wall between the United States and Mexico.
"Phoenix crowd last night was amazing -- a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
Flake is also one of two Republican senators up for re-election next year in a swing state, and the president has put his finger on the scale toward a primary challenger, Kelli Ward.
The threat to shut down the government could upend delicate negotiations on Capitol Hill to keep the government fully operating past September, further entrenching Democrats against what they see as an unpopular president scrambling to appeal to his base of supporters.
"Build that wall," Trump told the crowd in Phoenix. "Now, the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it. But believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall."
But congressional Democrats were holding their ground in opposing Trump's proposal. On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., repeated their objections to funding a wall and argued that Trump would be responsible if the government shuts down over the impasse.
"If the President pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading towards a government shutdown which nobody will like and which won't accomplish anything," Schumer said in a statement.
Most congressional Republicans are hoping to include border wall funding in any deal to keep the government open, and key conservative lawmakers have rallied to Trump's side. But Trump on Tuesday told his supporters, "Let me be very clear to Democrats in Congress who oppose a border wall and stand in the way of border security: You are putting all of America's safety at risk."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., played down the prospect of a shutdown, telling reporters Wednesday that even if the wall debate remains unresolved, Congress probably would pass a stopgap extension of funding to prevent a lapse when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
Fitch Ratings warned Wednesday that the nation's credit rating is at risk if the $19.9 trillion debt limit is not raised "in a timely manner" before the Treasury runs out of cash in October.
"Brinkmanship over the debt limit could ultimately have rating consequences, as failure to raise it would jeopardize the Treasury's ability to meet debt service and other obligations," said Fitch, one of the three leading credit-rating companies.
The shutdown threat is a response to the leverage granted to the minority party in the Senate. Spending legislation is subject to the same rules and procedures as any other law, and while Republicans control the House, Senate and White House, Democrats have enough votes in the Senate to filibuster any bill -- giving them the power to make demands on what is or isn't included in a funding package.
Trump has called for the end of the filibuster in the Senate in recent weeks, including at Tuesday's rally. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opposes such a move, and there appears to be no stomach among Senate Republicans to push the issue.
"We're looking forward to working with Congress to get funding for the border wall," White House spokesman Natalie Strom said Wednesday. "The president ran on it, won on it and plans to build it. Opposing the wall is simply opposing security for all Americans."
Also Wednesday, McConnell issued a statement that aimed to dispel reports of his deteriorating relationship with Trump, insisting that they remain in "regular contact" over shared Republican Party goals.
The statement came after The New York Times reported that the two men had not spoken since Trump berated McConnell in a phone call earlier this month, after the collapse of a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The report also said Trump complained that the leader was not doing enough to shield the president from the Russia investigation. The call, made from the president's golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., is reported to have devolved into a profanity-laced shouting match.
"The president and I, and our teams, have been and continue to be in regular contact about our shared goals," McConnell said in the statement.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together, and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation."
The White House, too, weighed in after the report of the feud.
Trump and McConnell "remain united on many shared priorities," and they and other top officials will hold "previously scheduled meetings" after Congress returns from its August recess, White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday in a statement.
Sanders said their goals include middle-class tax cuts, building the border wall and strengthening the military.
Information for this article was contributed by Abby Phillip, Mike DeBonis, Elise Viebeck and Damian Paletta of The Washington Post; by Julie Bykowicz, Jonathan Lemire, Jill Colvin, Alan Fram and Steve Peoples of The Associated Press; and by Lisa Mascaro and Jim Puzzanghera of the Tribune News Service.
A Section on 08/24/2017