Thousands greet Trump in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — When Donald Trump was asked what a crowd of more than 3,000 people in downtown Cedar Rapids wanted to hear at a rally Thursday night — his first here since accepting the GOP presidential nomination — his answer was simple.

'Just me,' he told The Gazette minutes before taking the stage to thunderous applause and shouts of 'U-S-A!' at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Convention Center.

It seemed that was true. As Trump jumped from topic to topic during a 45-minute meandering talk, the audience laughed, cheered and held up their phones to take video.

The bombastic businessman hit Iowa — first Davenport before taking his jet to Cedar Rapids — the same night his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, accepted her party's nomination for president. Criticism coming from Democrats gathered at their national convention in Philadelphia has been tough to take, Trump said.

'How would you like to be me watching that convention?' Trump asked the crowd. 'I was hit from every side. I wanted to hit back. I was going to take each one on.'

But he said he's saving his ire for one person 'and that's crooked Hillary Clinton.'

See Also: Supporters, Protesters gather before Trump rally

Trump said Democrats are looking at the world through rose-colored glasses if they think America is on the right track. He talked about recent news reports of a French priest's murder by terrorists and videos showing Islamic State terrorists drowning prisoners in cages. He mentioned the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernadino, Calif., as a sign of increasing homegrown terrorism.

'These are people that have to be stopped,' he said. 'They have to be stopped very strongly and very viciously.'

In The Gazette interview, Trump brushed aside concerns about whether the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland was too pessimistic.

'Some of the critics, the haters, I call them, said everything was good, the delivery was good, but it was dark,' he said. 'Most people thought it was very optimistic. It was meant to be optimistic. We'll fix those problems.'

As part of his pledge to 'make America great again,' Trump told Cedar Rapids he would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, take care of veterans, get rid of Common Core education standards, renegotiate trade deals and pick conservative Supreme Court judges.

These issues resonate with Ryan and Kira Markley, 29 and 21. The Cedar Rapids newlyweds think Trump would jump-start an economy that hasn't always been kind to millennials.

'People nowadays are just trying to get by,' said Kira Markley, who does child care.

Steve Phelan, 65, of Cedar Rapids, isn't 100 percent sold on Trump. But he likes Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and agrees with a statement the veteran GOP senator made earlier this week, according to Iowa Public Radio — that he's more likely to help Trump on the ballot in Iowa than Trump will help Grassley.

'That's probably true,' Phelan said.

Trump acknowledged in The Gazette interview that Grassley, who was not at Thursday's rally because of a schedule conflict, will be a critical ally in Iowa.

'He could very well be right,' Trump said. 'But I'm leading in the polls right now in Iowa.'

An average of polls on Real Clear Politics shows Clinton up in Iowa by half a percentage point.

More than 100 people protested Trump outside the hotel. Cedar Rapids Police Officer Blake Crutchley said five people were escorted out of the rally after being disruptive.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Andy McGuire in a statement called Trump a 'volatile, irresponsible candidate.'

'I am confident that, after hearing him speak, Iowa voters will understand that Trump does not have the judgment or the temperament to be entrusted with the most powerful position in the world,' McGuire said. Makayla Tendall of The Gazette contributed to this report.