Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose caustic comments about Mexicans have inflamed the immigration debate, told thousands of cheering supporters here Saturday that “we have to take back the heart of our country.” 
 
 In a rambling, defiant speech delivered in this border state that has been the epicenter of the nation’s divisive battle over immigration reform, Trump declared: “These are people that shouldn’t be in our country. They flow in like water.” One man in the crowd of 4,200 shouted back, “Build a wall!” 
 
 Basking in polls that show he has risen to the top of the crowded Republican field, Trump took obvious glee in mocking former Florida governor Jeb Bush, the establishment favorite who is setting fundraising records. 
 
 “Jeb Bush, let’s say he’s president — Oy, yoy, yoy,” Trump said. He asked the crowd: “How can I be tied with this guy? He’s terrible. Terrible. He’s weak on immigration.” 
 
 Trump’s 70-minute address here, which sounded more like a stream-of-consciousness rant than a presidential-style stump speech, put an exclamation point on his bombastic push since his presidential announcement last month to return immigration to the forefront of the national conversation. 
 
 Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters during a political rally in Phoenix on Saturday. (Charlie Leight/Getty Images) 
 
 Bush and illegal immigrants were not the only targets of Trump’s scorn: He also criticized Macy’s, NBC, NASCAR, U.S. ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and, several times, the media. 
 
 Republican leaders say they believe the celebrity billionaire has virtually no chance of being their nominee, much less of making it to the White House. And, for now at least, his following seems limited to the far right as opposed to the party’s mainstream. 
 
 Yet Trump has reignited a heated debate over an issue, immigration, that the GOP had been determined to settle after it hurt Republicans in the most recent presidential election. 
 
 Party leaders increasingly fear that Trump could do damage to more viable candidates, such as Bush, who could lose their own footing on immigration. These candidates confront a familiar challenge: During the primary season, they must deal with the anger and anxiety that many on the right feel about illegal immigration. But they must do it in a way that will not damage their appeal to a broader electorate in November 2016. 
 
 Republicans are handling Trump delicately for another reason as well: They fear that he could leave the GOP entirely and wage a well-funded third-party campaign, a possibility that Trump has not ruled out. 
 
 [GOP leaders fear damage to party’s image as Donald Trump doubles down] 
 
 After Trump repeatedly referred to illegal immigrants in the harshest of terms — calling them, among other things, killers and rapists — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump and asked him to tone things down. But that, if anything, has reinvigorated Trump and his vocal supporters. 
 
 1 of 9 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Cutting ties with Trump: Who has dumped him and why View Photos The Republican presidential hopeful has faced an avalanche of criticism over his characterization of illegal immigrants as “rapists,” drug dealers and other criminals. Caption The GOP presidential hopeful has faced an avalanche of criticism over his characterization of illegal immigrants. José Andrés, chef Chef José Andrés has backed out of a deal with Trump, saying in a statement, “Donald Trump’s recent statements disparaging immigrants make it impossible for my company and I to move forward with opening a successful Spanish restaurant in Trump International’s upcoming hotel in Washington, D.C.” Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 The crowd in Phoenix began lining up outside the convention center before dawn, with many spending hours in temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees. Hundreds of people, who stood in lines snaking down several downtown blocks, did not make it into the ballroom for his speech. 
 
 Many of Trump’s supporters blame illegal immigrants for crime and economic problems but also express dismay over cultural changes. 
 
 “We don’t recognize our country anymore,” said Jan Drake, 72, who lives in a retirement community outside Phoenix. “If you’re coming into our country, you have got to conform to what we stand for. You speak English. You don’t try to change our country to what your country was.” 
 
 After watching Trump on television the past couple of weeks, Drake said that she has become convinced that “he would be a very strong president. He doesn’t kowtow to anybody. The Republican Party will try to squeeze him out because they’re afraid of him. But he can tell them where to go — to pound sand.” 
 
 After he walked onto a catwalk stage here like a rock star, Trump basked in his crowd. “The word is getting out that we have to stop illegal immigration,” he said. 
 
 While Trump was railing against Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, a handful of protesters in the crowd interrupted. Trump’s security guards arrived to break up the skirmish that followed. His supporters screamed “USA! USA! USA!” in the protesters’ faces as the guards escorted them out of the convention hall. 
 
 “I wonder if the Mexican government sent them over here,” Trump said from the stage. He assured the crowd, “Don’t worry, we’ll take our country back.” 
 
 Trump also had harsh words for Islamic State terrorists. If he becomes president, Trump said, “They will be in such trouble . . . ISIS, believe me, I would take them out so fast. You have to do it.” 
 
 But it was his crusade against illegal immigrants that had Trump’s crowd most enthused. After expressing shock that his immigration message has resonated so strongly with the GOP base, Trump said, “The silent majority is back, and we’re going to take the country back.” He walked off the stage to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” 
 
 Earlier, as his plush Boeing 757 headed from an appearance in Las Vegas to Phoenix, Trump sat in a leather chair, surrounded by binders of articles about him and sipping a Coca-Cola — the full-calorie kind, he noted, because, “Have you ever seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke?” 
 
 “Something is happening in America. You may not want to see it, but something big is happening. People are sick and tired of politicians, and I’m here for them,” he said in an interview. “I’m ready to go right at the Mexican government. I’m going to charge them $25,000 per illegal immigrant and, oh, I’ll make them pay.” 
 
 (In his Phoenix speech, Trump put the figure at $100,000.) 
 
 “Would Bush do that? Would Rubio? I don’t think so,” Trump added, taking aim at two of his more mainstream rivals, Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). 
 
 Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans, including most Republicans, support an overhaul of the law to give millions of undocumented immigrants a means of staying in this country legally. But a passionate fraction of the Republican electorate believe otherwise. 
 
 Lou Brudnock, 71, said he is attracted to Trump’s brash “truthfulness” on immigration and his willingness to be politically incorrect. 
 
 “This country today is sad, sad, sad,” Brudnock said. “You can’t say anything or they call you ‘a racist.’ It’s like we’re back in Nazi Germany. But look around, man. It’s people here reading and listening to his message.” 
 
 Trump, by virtue of his celebrity, has provoked a backlash far more widespread than ever seen toward lesser-known immigration hard-liners, such as former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo (R). That means he could leave lasting damage to the GOP and whoever turns out to be its 2016 standard-bearer. 
 
 All of those cross-pressures were in play Saturday at Trump’s appearances here and in Las Vegas. More mainstream Republicans had anticipated the spectacle and made no secret of their concern. 
 
 “I had hoped that we had moved on from some of the coarse rhetoric,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). “When there’s so many candidates, you can appeal to a very small segment of the population and get news and get elevated.” Flake is a leading proponent of a comprehensive immigration measure that would include a path to citizenship for those who are in the country illegally. 
 
 Arizona has been a hotbed of anti-immigration sentiment, having passed a 2010 law that requires law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of people they detain and suspect are in the country illegally. 
 
 Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio — who in some ways is the face of that law, having been the subject of racial-profiling lawsuits — helped warm up the crowd before Trump’s arrival. 
 
 “I know that Donald Trump is speaking out,” Arpaio said. “He’s getting a lot of heat. But, you know, there’s a silent majority out here.” 
 
 “We’re not silent anymore!” a man in the crowd shouted. 
 
 Arpaio brought up the mostly dormant questioning of President Obama’s birth certificate. He and Trump are perhaps the most vocal of the “birthers,” who falsely contend that Obama was not born in the United States. 
 
 Immigration also has gained new attention after the June 30 shooting death of a woman along San Francisco’s heavily touristed waterfront, allegedly by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times from the United States. 
 
 Trump — along with much of the rest of the Republican field — has criticized the policies of “sanctuary cities,” where officials cannot detain those they suspect of being in the country illegally unless they have other grounds to do so. 
 
 Republican strategists say that it is possible to address anxiety over illegal immigration within the GOP base without alienating the electorate at large. Advisers to Bush and Rubio, for instance, say that their candidates can play a long game on the issue, continuing to make a case for comprehensive changes to the law, while waiting for the Trump boomlet to subside. 
 
 “You can give a fuller picture of those types of people who are coming to America who are not documented, who are not legal,” said Peter Wehner, who was a top official in George W. Bush’s White House. “And you can speak about them in a humane and decent and true way.” 
 
 Karen Tumulty in Washington contributed to this report. ||||| PHOENIX (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump criticized U.S. immigration and trade policies on Saturday in speeches that veered from accusing Mexico of deliberately sending criminals across the border to professing respect for the Mexican government and love for its people. 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives to speak at a rally before a crowd of 3,500 Saturday, July 11, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at FreedomFest, Saturday, July 11, 2015, in Las Vegas. Trump said his comments about immigration have become a movement and has pointed to violence... (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to supporters as he arrives speaks before a crowd of 3,500 Saturday, July 11, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands prior to speaking at a rally before a crowd of 3,500 Saturday, July 11, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (Associated Press) 
 
 Speaking to a gathering of Libertarians in Las Vegas before headlining an event in Phoenix, Trump repeated his charge that Mexico was sending violent offenders to the U.S. to harm Americans and that U.S. officials were being "dumb" in dealing with immigrants in the country illegally. 
 
 "These people wreak havoc on our population," he told a few thousand people attending the Libertarian gathering FreedomFest inside a Planet Hollywood ballroom on the Las Vegas Strip. 
 
 In the 4,200-capacity Phoenix convention center packed with flag-waving supporters, Trump took a different view — for a moment — and said: "I love the Mexican people. I love 'em. Many, many people from Mexico are legal. They came in the old-fashioned way. Legally." 
 
 He quickly returned to the sharp tone that has brought him scorn as well as praise. "I respect Mexico greatly as a country. But the problem we have is their leaders are much sharper than ours, and they're killing us at the border and they're killing us on trade." 
 
 His speeches in both venues were long on insults aimed at critics and short on solutions to the problems he cited. When he called for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the audience in Las Vegas groaned. 
 
 In a break from the immigration rhetoric that has garnered him condemnation and praise, Trump asserted that he would have more positive results in dealing with China and Russia if he were president and said he could be pals with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
 
 Asked by an audience member in Las Vegas about U.S.-Russia relations, Trump said the problem is that Putin doesn't respect Obama. 
 
 "I think we would get along very, very well," he said. 
 
 Trump has turned to victims of crime to bolster his argument that immigrants in the U.S. illegally have killed and raped. In Las Vegas and Phoenix, he brought on stage Jamiel Shaw Sr., a Southern California man whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed in 2008 by a man in the country illegally. Shaw vividly described how his son was shot — in the head, stomach and hands while trying to block his face — and how he heard the gunshots as he talked to his son on the phone. 
 
 Shaw said he trusted Trump, and encouraged the crowds in both cities to do the same. 
 
 Trump's speeches were filled with tangents and insults leveled at business partners such as Univision and NBC that have dropped him in the wake of his comments that Mexican immigrants bring drugs and crime to the U.S. and are rapists. He also directed familiar barbs at other presidential contenders, including Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton ("the worst secretary of state in the history of the country"), news media figures ("lyin' Brian Williams") and President Barack Obama ("such a divisive person"). He called journalists "terrible people." 
 
 As Trump lambasted Univision for cancelling its broadcast of the Miss USA pageant, one of his many business enterprises, a group of young Latinos unfurled a banner pointed toward the stage and began chanting insults. They were quickly drowned out by the crowd, and nearby Trump supporters began to grab at them, tearing at the banner and pulling and pushing at the protesters. Security staff managed to get to the group and escorted them out as Trump resumed speaking. 
 
 "I wonder if the Mexican government sent them over here," he said. "I think so." 
 
 Arizona's tough-on-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio introduced Trump in Phoenix after outlining the things he and the candidate have in common, including skepticism that Obama was born in the United States. He went on to criticize the federal government for what he called a revolving door for immigrants, saying many of them end up in his jails. 
 
 "He's been getting a lot of heat, but you know, there's a silent majority out here," Arpaio said, borrowing from a phrase Richard Nixon popularized during his presidency in a speech about the Vietnam War. 
 
 A single protester standing outside the room where Trump spoke in Las Vegas was more concerned about the businessman being tied to the Libertarian Party. 
 
 "I've been a Libertarian for 43 years and Trump ain't no Libertarian," said Linda Rawles, who asserted that including Trump in FreedomFest set back the party's movement. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Pierceall reported from Las Vegas. ||||| A demonstrator protesting Donald Trump's meeting with the Mexican president holds up a book jacket with the title; "Stop Trump!" during a morning protest at the Angel of Independence Monument that drew... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign (all times EDT): 
 
 10:10 p.m. 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he will order the immediate detention of all known immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been arrested for crimes. 
 
 He says on the first day in office he will "issue detainers for illegal immigrants who are arrested" and initiate immediate proceedings to remove them. 
 
 For people caught crossing the border illegally, Trump referenced the 1950s-era "Operation Wetback." He said that "we will take them great distances" instead of sending them just across the U.S. border. 
 
 Trump said, "We will take them to the country where they came from." 
 
 He said his administration will take a hard line on criminal aliens. He said the U.S. will be "moving them out on Day One." 
 
 To thunderous applause, Trump continues that he will seek legislation to block federal funding for so-called sanctuary cities that shelter immigrants in the country illegally. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:00 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump continues to insist that Mexico will pay for the wall he wants to build along the length of the southern border. 
 
 Trump says during a speech on immigration that Mexico will pay for the wall, "100 percent." 
 
 He says, "They don't know it yet, but they're going to pay for" it. 
 
 Trump met with Mexico's president earlier Wednesday and said they did not discuss who would pay for the massive wall that has been at the center of Trump's campaign. 
 
 But President Enrique Peña Nieto said he reiterated to Trump that Mexico would not be paying for the wall. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:55 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump says the nation's immigration policy must focus on what is best for American citizens, not those living in the country illegally. 
 
 He says, "There is only one core issue in the immigration debate and that issue is the well-being of the American people." 
 
 Still he says that he intends to treat "everyone living or residing" in the country with "great dignity." 
 
 Trump is also accusing President Barack Obama and his rival Hillary Clinton of engaging in a "gross dereliction of duty" for supporting more liberal immigration policies. 
 
 He says that Clinton talks about the families that would be separated if people in the country illegally were deported, but she doesn't talk about families impacted negatively by illegal immigration. 
 
 Just days ago, Trump was praising the number of people deported under the Obama administration. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:50 p.m. 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is opening his long-awaited immigration policy speech by detailing the stories of illegal immigrants who committed violent crimes. 
 
 Trump is telling thousands in the convention center in downtown Phoenix that he has "met with many of the great parents who lost their children to sanctuary cities and open borders." 
 
 He talked about beatings and stabbings of young women, then said simply, "It's not going to happen anymore." 
 
 Before Trump took the stage, families of such victims addressed the audience, describing how their children or loved ones were killed and thanking Trump for his promise to enforce the U.S.-Mexican border. 
 
 Trump is emphasizing illegal immigrants accused of crimes, an issue of far less controversy than what to do with the millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have not been accused of crimes. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:40 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump says that he had a "thoughtful and substantive" conversation with Mexico's president on Wednesday as he kicks off a long-awaited speech on immigration. 
 
 Trump says his surprise meeting with Enrique Peña Nieto included a discussion of stopping the flow of illegal drugs across the southern border, and a shared goal to put drug cartels out of business. 
 
 Trump launched his campaign with a speech that accused Mexico of sending its rapists and criminals across the border. 
 
 But Trump is striking a different tone Wednesday, saying that, if the countries work together, "we're all going to win." 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:05 p.m. 
 
 The president of Mexico says Donald Trump wasn't telling the truth when he described their Wednesday conversation. 
 
 Specifically, President Enrique Peña Nieto said that he and Trump did indeed discuss who would pay for construction of a massive wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. That's the centerpiece of Trump's immigration plan. 
 
 Trump and Peña Nieto met privately in Mexico City on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 When they emerged from the meeting, Trump told reporters they discussed the wall, but not paying for it. 
 
 Hours later, Peña Nieto tweeted his version: "At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made clear that Mexico would not pay for the wall." 
 
 The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:50 p.m. 
 
 Donald Trump "choked" in Mexico. 
 
 That's according to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who says the Republican presidential nominee "doesn't have the courage to advocate for his campaign promises when he's not in front of a friendly crowd." 
 
 Trump defended his plan to build a wall on the United States' southern border during his Wednesday visit with the president of Mexico. But the New York businessman did not push his oft-mentioned promise to force Mexico to pay for the wall. 
 
 Podesta says "Trump choked" in what was his first opportunity to make good on "his offensive campaign promises." 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:55 p.m. 
 
 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto says the Mexican people have been hurt by Donald Trump's past comments that painted them in a negative light. 
 
 Peña Nieto told reporters following a closed-door meeting that "misinterpretation or assertions" had negatively impacted perceptions of Trump's candidacy. 
 
 He added that, the "Mexican people have been hurt by the comments that had been made." But he said he's sure that Trump is genuinely interested in building a relationship that will benefit both countries. 
 
 Peña Nieto spoke in Spanish throughout. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:40 p.m. 
 
 After meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Republican nominee Donald Trump says that both countries must respect the others' right to build a border wall on their soil to stop the movement of people, illegal drugs and weapons. 
 
 Trump says he and PeñaNieto discussed his call for a border wall during their meeting, but did not talk about Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for it. He says, "that'll be for a later date." 
 
 Trump says that having a secure border is a sovereign right and mutually beneficial. Mexicans have been outraged by the proposal. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:35 p.m. 
 
 Republican Donald Trump is calling his surprise visit to Mexico City Wednesday a 'great honor.' And he says the nations share a common interest in keeping the hemisphere safe and prosperous. 
 
 The Republican presidential nominee said after meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto that the pair had a substantive, direct and constructive exchange of ideas at the president's official residence in Mexico City. 
 
 This is Trump's first foreign visit as his party's nominee. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:30 p.m. 
 
 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is challenging Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's characterization of the situation on the U.S.-Mexican border. 
 
 Peña Nieto notes that the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally is down significantly "even to the point of being negative to a net effect." He spoke at a joint appearance Wednesday at the president's official residence. 
 
 While Peña Nieto says the countries have shared challenges, he says that there exists "an incomplete vision of the border issues," with weapons and cash flowing south from the U.S. and fueling violence. 
 
 He's also stressing U.S. exports to Mexico and the number of jobs reliant on the countries' trade relationship. 
 
 He says the Mexican people are people of "good will" who "deserve everybody's respect." 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:20 p.m. 
 
 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto says that he and Donald Trump may not agree on everything, but that their meeting underscores their countries' shared interests. 
 
 Peña Nieto tells reporters that their meeting with the Republican nominee at the president's official residence in Mexico City was "open and constructive." 
 
 He says in Spanish that the next president "will find in Mexico and its government" a neighbor who "wants to work constructively to strengthen even more" the relationship between their nations. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:55 p.m. 
 
 An official at the Mexico City international airport says a private plane carrying Republican candidate Donald Trump has touched down at the airport. 
 
 The official was not authorized to be quoted by name, nor did he provide the plane's registry number, or say how Trump would reach the official residence of President Enrique Pena Nieto, where the meeting with the Mexican leader is to take place. 
 
 Pena Nieto's office has confirmed there will be a meeting and subsequent press statement at the residence, which is across town from the airport. 
 
 Trump appeared likely to fly to the residence by helicopter, rather than cross town in any kind of motorcade. 
 
 —By E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:45 p.m. 
 
 Hillary Clinton says if elected president she will make clear that the U.S. "will treat cyberattacks just like any other attack." 
 
 Clinton says in a speech Wednesday to the American Legion convention in Cincinnati that the U.S. needs to "step up our game" and be able to defend itself against those who "go after us." 
 
 She blamed Russia for hacking into the Democratic National Committee and perhaps "even some state election systems." 
 
 Clinton says the United States will be ready with "serious political, economic and military responses" to any cyberattacks. 
 
 WikiLeaks released damaging emails during the Democratic National Convention that implied the DNC had favored Clinton over primary rival Bernie Sanders. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:10 p.m. 
 
 Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine says Donald Trump has "put his feet in concrete" on his immigration positions, regardless of what the Republican nominee says in an immigration-focused speech Wednesday night. 
 
 Kaine is visiting a Hispanic community center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, hours before Trump is set to speak and about his immigration plans. Trump's speech is being closely watched to see if he softens proposals to deport millions of people living in the United States illegally. 
 
 Kaine says Trump's words and actions have been "frightening" to Hispanics and he doesn't expect to hear a change in tone. And he says its "hard to say" what to expect out of Trump's meeting Wednesday with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:05 p.m. 
 
 Hillary Clinton is blasting Donald Trump for referring to the American military as "a disaster." 
 
 Clinton says in a sharply worded speech Wednesday to the American Legion convention that it's "an insult to the men and women serving today and all who have served before." 
 
 The Democratic presidential nominee is reiterating that she would send American troops into harm's way only as a "last resort," calling it a bedrock principal. 
 
 She also says the last thing the nation needs is a president "who brings more name-calling and temper tantrums to Washington," a reference to her Republican opponent. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 Hillary Clinton is tweaking rival Donald Trump's decision to travel to Mexico, saying it takes more to make up for a "year of insults and insinuations" than a quick trip to America's southern neighbor. 
 
 Clinton says at the American Legion's annual convention in Ohio that voters need to know that they can count on you. She says "it certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours and then flying home again." 
 
 The Democratic presidential nominee adds, "That is not how it works." 
 
 Trump was meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto later Wednesday. Trump's surprise visit was coming hours before a major address on immigration in Arizona. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:55 p.m. 
 
 Hillary Clinton says the United States in "an exceptional nation" and is accusing rival Donald Trump of thinking that approach is "insulting to the rest of the world." 
 
 Clinton is speaking to the American Legion's annual convention in Cincinnati. She says the U.S. is an indispensable nation and has a "unique and unparalleled ability to be a force for peace and progress." 
 
 Referencing Trump's threats to "walk away from our alliances," she notes that when America fails to lead, the country leaves a vacuum for the rest of the world to fill. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:25 a.m. 
 
 Just days after Hillary Clinton criticized the Trump campaign for promoting groups and individuals associated with preserving "white identity," Donald Trump Jr. has retweeted an adherent of the "alt-right" movement that Clinton singled out for criticism. 
 
 Donald Trump's oldest son this week retweeted a post from Kevin MacDonald, a former professor at California State University Long Beach. MacDonald said last week that white people in America are becoming a victimized minority. He has been accused of anti-Semitism by critics, including the Southern Poverty Law Center. 
 
 MacDonald's tweet had to do with Clinton's State Department and perceived favoritism for UBS, a global financial services company that donated to the Clinton Foundation. 
 
 Trump Jr.'s retweet prompted Richard Spencer, a leader of the alt-right movement, to tweet "Wow. Just wow." 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:50 a.m. 
 
 Mike Pence says that Donald Trump's trip to Mexico demonstrates what a "decisive leader" he would be if elected president. 
 
 Trump's running mate told Fox News Wednesday that Trump immediately responded to an invitation by Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto to meet. He noted that Hillary Clinton received the same invitation but hasn't responded yet. 
 
 Pence said that Trump and Pena Nieto are expected to discuss the logistics of Trump's proposed border wall — something Trump insists Mexico will pay for, despite Pena Nieto's condemnation of the plan. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:35 a.m. 
 
 At least two demonstrations are planned in Mexico City as Mexicans express anger about the visit of Donald Trump. 
 
 Former first lady Margarita Zavala wrote in a tweet aimed at Trump: "Even though you may have been invited, we want you to know you're not welcome. We Mexicans have dignity, and we reject your hate speech." She's considered a potential presidential candidate for 2018. 
 
 Pena Nieto's office hasn't said where or when the meeting would be held, possibly in a bid to avoid protests outside the meeting site. 
 
 Leading historian Enrique Krauze also addressed Trump in a tweek, saying "We Mexicans expect nothing less than an apology for calling us "criminals and rapists". 
 
 Krauze told the Televisa TV network that, "Tyrants are to be confronted, not pacified." 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:30 a.m. 
 
 Mexico has awakened to the news that President Enrique Pena Nieto is going to meet with Republican candidate Donald Trump Wednesday, and many Mexicans don't like it. 
 
 Some analysts said the Republican nominee had left Pena Nieto flat-footed by accepting an invitation the Mexican president had made simply for appearances' sake. Trump is widely loathed in Mexico for calling migrants from the country "rapists" among other insults. 
 
 Mexico City-based security analyst Alejandro Hope suggested that Pena Nieto "wanted to invite Hillary (Clinton), but that meant inviting both of them, and nobody thought Trump would accept first." 
 
 He added: "What's in it for Mexico? " 
 
 The newspaper El Universal wrote in an editorial that Trump "caught Mexican diplomats off guard" by accepting the invitation. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:10 a.m. 
 
 Donald Trump will be taking his first foreign trip as the Republican presidential nominee on Wednesday, making a quick visit to Mexico, a nation he derided as the home of rapists and criminals as he launched his campaign. 
 
 The meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto, who earlier this year compared the billionaire candidate to Hitler, comes hours before Trump is set to deliver a highly-anticipated immigration speech. It's a defining issue for Trump, but one on which he has appeared to waiver. 
 
 After saying during his primary campaign he would expel all of the estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally with a "deportation force," Trump has suggested recently he might be open to "softening" his stance as he tries to win over more moderate general election voters.
– As Donald Trump continues to trade volleys with Latinos, he took his unrepentant show to Phoenix last night, where he told an enthusiastic crowd that waited hours in 100-degree temps that "we have to take back the heart of our country" and that he was "ready to go right at the Mexican government. I’m going to charge them $25,000 per illegal immigrant and, oh, I’ll make them pay." Trump used the 70-minute speech, which the Washington Post characterizes as more a "stream-of-consciousness rant than a presidential-style stump speech," which "put an exclamation point on his bombastic push" to focus on immigration. "These are people that shouldn’t be in our country," Trump told the crowd of between 3,500 and 4,200. "They flow in like water." He also took the opportunity to further hammer away at GOP golden boy Jeb Bush, saying, "let's say he's president—oy, yoy, yoy. How can I be tied with this guy? He's terrible. Terrible. He's weak on immigration." Bush wasn't Trump's only whipping boy: Also attracting the candidate's scorn, per the Post, were "Macy’s, NBC, NASCAR, Caroline Kennedy, Hillary Rodham Clinton and, several times, the media." (The candidate avoided attracting Neil Young's wrath again and left the stage to "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister.) Trump spoke earlier in the day to a Libertarian crowd in Las Vegas, notes the AP, striking a slightly more nuanced tone: "I love the Mexican people. I respect Mexico greatly as a country. But the problem we have is their leaders are much sharper than ours, and they're killing us at the border and they're killing us on trade." (Even as Trump spoke, Mexico was having a little trouble keeping a notorious drug lord on lockdown.)