BLOG: Trump rally in Chesapeake, first appearance after initial debate

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Former President Donald Trump is making his first public appearance in Chesapeake on Friday afternoon, following his first 2024 presidential debate against President Joe Biden.

The debate between Trump and Biden on Thursday night in Atlanta included responses to questions on the U.S. involvement on international wars, resources for veterans and the economy. The candidates took turns making jabs on the other’s presidency, past remarks and —perhaps a bit surprisingly — their golf game.

The rally is taking place at the Historic Greenbrier Farms and crowds have been pouring in since the gates opened. People lined up as early as 15 hours ahead of the rally to ensure a spot.

Trump was scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. Flight data showed the plane Trump was on taking off from the DC area around 2 p.m. Trump’s plane landed in Norfolk around 2:35 p.m.

WAVY will provide live updates in this article throughout the rally, and have more in depth reporting upon its conclusion and throughout the rest of the day. Check back and refresh often to stay informed.

Watch the full rally video here:

Live updates (refresh to see updates):

Note: Some of Trump’s claims will undergo fact checking throughout the evening in order to provide additional context. Check back for accurate information.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin begins opening remarks ahead of Trump’s arrival and endorsed Jen Kiggans. Kiggans took the stage briefly and said the future of the country is at stake and voters need to take back the country.

2:35 p.m. | Trump’s plane landed in Norfolk.

3:17 p.m. | Trump has reportedly arrived at Chesapeake rally.

3:29 p.m. | Music streams throughout the stadium while supporters wait for Trump’s arrival including Adele and Phantom of the Opera.

3:56 p.m. | Trump arrives at Chesapeake blaring “God Bless the USA.”

4 p.m. | Trump begins speaking. He said Biden is not respected across the U.S.

• Fact check — somewhat true. According to a study done by Reuters, 57% of Americans disapprove of Biden as president. In the same study, it shows that overall voters prefer Trump for policies on economy and Biden for policies on democracy.

4:01 p.m. | Claims Biden is using law enforcement to attack political opponent, referring to himself. Calls Biden “crooked.”

4:04 p.m. | Trump refers to women from North Carolina behind him as “beautiful” and said they are at their 127th Trump rally.

4:05 p.m. | Trump said the current debate is not whether Biden can “survive a 90 minute debate,” but whether America can handle another Biden presidency.

4:06 p.m. | Trump states this is the closest to WWIII the country has been to, and that Biden is “grossly incompetent.”

4:08 p.m. | Trump said he took heat from media and the public after demanding money from NATO and said he wouldn’t defend NATO countries if they didn’t pay. Trump said $400 billion came “pouring in” as a result.

• Fact check — somewhat true, but could be misleading.
  • NATO does have some common funding, and have agreed to spend at least 2% of their National GDP for defense spending, according to Reuters. It is true that some NATO countries didn’t meet their 2% in 2023.
  • However, the $400 billion didn’t come “pouring in” as Trump described. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in November 2019 that Allies expected to invest in $130 billion more in defense spending by the end of 2020. The total spending increase was expected to hit $400 billion by the end of 2024.

4:10 p.m. | Transitions into conversations of China, and said China paid the U.S. because they respected the U.S.

4:11 p.m. | Trump said the country is slipping into communism and fascism.

4:12 p.m. | Trump said he thinks it’s unlikely for Biden to drop from the race, and takes jabs as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA.) and Kamala Harris saying they wouldn’t make good replacements for Biden as they don’t have the poll numbers.

4:15 p.m. | States Biden is the worst president, and that the whole Democratic party needs to be voted out.

4:16 p.m. | Trumps said Biden is in support of late-term abortion and even “abortion after birth,” or more accurately known as infanticide.

• Fact Check — mostly false
  • Biden hasn’t expressed support for infanticide. Biden has supported Roe V Wade and thinks that “Roe got it right.”

4:17 p.m. | Said that Biden believes the strength of America comes from “illegal aliens” referring to undocumented immigrants, and that these individuals are taking American jobs.

4:20 p.m. | Said Biden knows that gang members from Venezuela are coming to the U.S., specifically mentioning Virginia. Trump said Youngkin isn’t letting them stay long.

4:22 p.m. | Trump mentions the whale deaths occurring on the East shore, and making ties to the windmills.

4:23 p.m. | Said the Republican Party is the “party of commonsense.”

4:24 p.m. | Makes references to economy before the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it had the best tax cuts.

4:26 p.m. | Mentions the push for all electric vehicles, planes and boats isn’t going to work.

4:27 p.m. | Said the election was rigged, and he wouldn’t be running again if Biden was a good president.

4:28 p.m. | Discusses global warming. Trump mimics Biden calling it an “existential crisis.” Trump said the problem is “nuclear” warming. Said that the narrative had to change from global warming to climate change.

4:33 p.m. | Trump said that the last election was rigged, and that it won’t happen again.

4:34 p.m. | Trump takes a live audience poll asking audience if they prefer “crooked Joe” or “sleepy Joe.”

4:34 p.m. | Takes another poll asking who likes Gov. Youngkin, earning a round of cheers.

4:45 p.m. | Trump said that Biden praises what is happening at the border.

4:37 p.m. | Trump said he defeated ISIS.

4:38 p.m. | Talks about the death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston who was killed by undocumented migrants, calling them “Biden migrants.” Said they are getting comfortable because the country isn’t letting police do their job.

4:42 p.m. | Trump said day one of office he will begin the largest deportation in America history.

4:44 p.m. | Trump said that Biden wants to be president of undocumented migrants, and Trump wants to be president of Americans of all backgrounds. Refers to Biden as “super predator.”

4:46 p.m. | Trump quotes Biden when Biden said there was no inflation under Biden’s presidency, saying that it’s not true.

4:48 p.m. | Trump calls Biden a “defunder” of the police, and said no police supports Biden. Said they will replace “Bidenomics” with “maganomics.”

4:50 p.m. | Said Venezuela crime rate is down 72% because they brought all their criminals to America.

• Fact Check — mostly false
  • While Venezuela homicide rates are down from year to year, according to Statista, it’s not nearly to the extent as Trump has claimed. Trump also never specified what type of crime he meant.

4:53 p.m. | Trump said Biden wants to increase taxes in Virginia. Trump promises to cut taxes.

4:55 p.m. | Trump said he will not tax tips for those in the service industry.

4:57 p.m. | Trump brings up recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Jan 6. defendant. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant Joseph Fischer.

5 p.m. | Trump said he is leading in polls in every state. Trump said he’s leading in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

5:02 p.m. | Trump said he’s fighting for his supporters’ freedoms.

5:03 p.m. | Trump encourages Youngkin on stage and endorses him for governor.

5:05 p.m. | Senate candidate Hung Cao comes on stage and expresses support for Trump.

5:07 p.m. | Youngkin comes on stage and says they will help Trump get back into the White House.

5:08 p.m. | Jason Miyares comes on stage and said the three things at stake in this election is “U. S. A.”

5:15 p.m. | Trump said if he wins Virginia, the election is over. He gives a shout out to veterans.

5:19 p.m. | Trump said he will restore peace through strength. He will have the Ukraine-Russia war “settled.” He said he will prevent the country from slipping into WWIII.

5:21 p.m. | Trump said Biden is destroying social security and that Trump won’t take a “single penny” away from it.

5:22 p.m. | Said he will not give money to schools with a mask mandate. He will “keep men out of women sports.” Said he will protect the second amendment.

5:25 p.m. | Trump encourages supporters to vote and tell their friends.

5:27 p.m. | Trump said the nation has lost its way, and that the country can soon be a great nation again.

5:30 p.m. | “We will make a America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. We will make America free again. And we will make America great again.”