The Latest on President Donald Trump on the campaign trail (all times local):
7:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of supporting a caravan of thousands of Central Americans who are walking toward America's southern border.
President Donald Trump arrives as the sun sets to speak at a campaign rally at Minuteman Aviation Hangar, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in Missoula, Mont. (AP PhotoCarolyn Kaster)
Trump is campaigning in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday for GOP Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester. The president claims Democrats figure that all the people trying to immigrate will vote for them, but "they're crazy."
The president is trying to make immigration a top issue in the midterm elections, which are less than three weeks away. Trump told supporters: "Remember, it's gonna be an election of the caravan."
Trump also said that he'd be willing to send U.S. troops to defend the southern border if necessary.
President Donald Trump arrives as the sun sets to speak at a campaign rally at Minuteman Aviation Hangar, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in Missoula, Mont. (AP PhotoCarolyn Kaster)
6:55 p.m.
While campaigning in Montana, President Donald Trump says this Election Day will be about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, immigration, and law and order.
Trump said Thursday at a rally in Missoula that the midterms will be the "election of Kavanaugh, the caravan, law and order and common sense." A caravan of thousands of Central American migrants is advancing to the U.S. border.
President Donald Trump speaks to media on the tarmac before boarding Air Force One, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to speak at a campaign rally in Neptune Aviation Services, Missoula, Mont. (AP PhotoCarolyn Kaster)
Trump is campaigning for GOP Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester.
The president says that when they vote, Americans will remember how Democrats fought against Kavanaugh and the Democratic positions on immigration.
6:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is in Montana to boost GOP Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, who is running against a Democratic incumbent the president says has been a "disaster for Montana."
Trump is holding a rally Thursday evening in Missoula to campaign against Sen. Jon Tester.
Trump blames Tester for the backlash against former White House doctor Adm. Ronny Jackson, whom the president had tapped to serve as Veterans Affairs secretary. Jackson was forced to withdraw after facing ethics allegations and questions about his preparedness for the role.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that since opposing Jackson, Tester "looks to be in big trouble in the Great State of Montana!"
Trump also criticized Tester's opposition to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of decades-old sexual assault. Kavanaugh denied it.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
