The Latest: Trump attacks familiar enemies, adds new targets

WASHINGTON – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s Michigan rally Saturday night (all times local):

8:10 p.m.

President Donald Trump is attacking familiar enemies and adding fresh targets for his scorn during a campaign-style speech in Michigan.

Trump criticized Democratic Sen. Jon Tester for announcing allegations of unprofessional conduct by Trump’s now-withdrawn nominee to Veterans Affairs, White House doctor Ronny Jackson. The president says he “knows things” about Tester that could lead to the Montana senator losing his bid for re-election, but Trump didn’t elaborate.

Trump also pointed to Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow as an impediment, telling his audience that Michigan voters are at fault because they keep re-electing her.

Trump appeared in Washington Township, Michigan, on the same night as the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, telling his audience he’d rather be with them than in Washington, D.C.

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12:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump is betting on a large crowd and a friendly reception at a Saturday evening rally in Michigan — one of the states in the Upper Midwest that Hillary Clinton counted on in 2016 but saw slip away.

In fact, Trump was the first Republican presidential nominee to capture Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

“Look forward to being in the Great State of Michigan tonight,” Trump said in a tweet hours before the event in Washington Township.

He also tweeted: “Major business expansion and jobs pouring into your State. Auto companies expanding at record pace. Big crowd tonight, will be live on T.V.”

Also on TV Saturday night is a Washington, D.C., tradition that Trump says he’s happy to skip: The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.