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Presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump held a campaign rally at Minges Coliseum in Greenville on Monday, Oct. 21. 

“I am thrilled to be back in this incredible state with thousands of proud, hardworking, American patriots,” Trump said to kickoff his speech. 

Monday makes the seventh visit for Trump to the Tar Heel state. Since July, he has held a campaign rally at Bojangles Coliseum, spoke to the National Fraternal Order of Police and has held events in Mint Hill, Wilmington, Asheville and Asheboro, according to Charlotte news outlet WBTV. The GOP candidate spent Monday morning visiting victims of Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, the Citizen Times reported. Trump spent the evening in Concord for an “11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting.” 

In Greenville, Trump spoke for over an hour on a variety of topics from economic control to border security. 

Trump promoted his plan to place significant tariff hikes. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy nonprofit, says the proposed tariff increases “would hike taxes by another $524 billion annually and shrink GDP by at least 0.8 percent, the capital stock by 0.7 percent, and employment by 684,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Our estimates do not capture the effects of retaliation, nor the additional harms that would stem from starting a global trade war…We estimate the Trump-Biden tariffs will reduce long-run GDP by 0.2 percent, the capital stock by 0.1 percent, and employment by 142,000 full-time equivalent jobs.” 

“We will give our companies the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, the lowest regulatory burden and free access to the best and the biggest market on the planet, but only if they make their products here in America and hire American workers,” Trump said. “And if these companies don’t make their products here – in other words, if they are going to make them in another country and they bring them here – then they will pay a very stiff tariff. They will send their products into the United States with a privilege of competing with our workers and our companies – they’re going to have to pay a very big tariff.” 

He told supporters that, if elected, he will bring back manufacturing jobs. “We will bring back our jobs, our factories, our wealth and our dreams.” 

Moving to border security, Trump pitched his plan to supporters closing U.S. borders near Mexico and in Texas. He claimed closing the border and having a wall separating Mexico and the U.S. could have been achieved in less than one month which is what “border patrol and ICE wanted,” he said on Monday.

If elected, Trump would ask Congress to pass legislation increasing the number of border patrol agents by 10,000 and give a 10% raise to existing agents in addition to $10,000 in a retention and signing bonus, NBC News reported last week. 

Election Day is 15 days away and seems as if it will end in a photo finish between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. According to a new poll from USA Today and Suffolk University, the candidates are “essentially tied” with Harris earning 45% of support to Trump’s 44% of support nationwide. The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters between Oct. 14-18. 

In North Carolina, more than one million voters have submitted their ballots according to the State Board of Elections. As of Sunday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m., the turnout total is 1,008,123 ballots cast. That figure broken down looks like: 

• In-person early voting: 916,433
• Absentee (civilian): 77,831
• Absentee (overseas): 11,168
• Absentee (military): 2,691

“The ballots cast number represents a statewide turnout of about 13 percent of North Carolina’s nearly 7.8 million registered voters,” the North Carolina State Board of Elections shared on Sunday. 

Trump’s visit follows Vice President Harris as her campaign rally was also held at Minges Coliseum last Sunday (Oct. 13).