Former President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday during a campaign speech to the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women that he's been targeted by his enemies through indictments for "standing in their way" and because of his front-runner status in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
"Let's assume someone else took this position," Trump said in an extensive address to the members attending the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women Lilac Luncheon in Concord. "They'd go after them just as tough, or tougher. They're crooked people."
Trump, who is facing a state indictment filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg concerning business records and a federal indictment in the courts in Florida for his handling of classified information, insisted that the charges are coming because "the swamp is getting truly desperate."
"They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom," Trump said to the audience. "They want to silence me because I will not let them silence you. ... In the end, they're not after me; they're after you. I'm just standing in their way."
Trump noted that the polls continue to show him as the clear front-runner, including one from Morning Consult that put him at 57% to 19% over his closest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Trump also railed against President Joe Biden, and said the 2024 election is the "most important battle of our lives."
Trump called Biden the "most corrupt president in the history of our country," while complaining that the "fake news" does not want to cover a scandal that is "100 times bigger than Watergate."
"Five days ago, the IRS whistleblower revealed that crooked Joe sat in the room while Hunter Biden messaged a Chinese Communist Party leader, a very top person, and said, I quote, 'I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,'" said Trump. "Within 10 days the Bidens got $5.1 million for doing absolutely nothing."
As a result, Trump said, "Joe Biden is a compromised president. That's why nothing happens with China. China knows how compromised he is. ... China has full control over our president."
Trump, referring to reports that China is planning to build a military installation in Cuba, promised that if elected, he will give China "48 hours" to get its military out of Cuba, or risk tariffs and sanctions "like they have never seen before."
"Our country is controlled by other countries," Trump said. "They even tried to have me arrested. I'm a candidate, you're arresting a candidate."
The 2024 election "will be the end of the world for the corrupt political class in the nation's capital," said Trump. "America is tired of being ruled by bureaucrats in Washington."
Trump also railed against DeSantis, who was speaking Tuesday at a rival event in Hollis, New Hampshire, where he discussed his new immigration policy proposal he announced Monday in South Texas.
Trump outlined his own immigration policy, saying he will "immediately terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration."
"Other countries are emptying out their prisons and insane asylums and mental institutions and dumping everyone, including mass numbers of terrorists into our country … they have no shame. They just let it happen," Trump said. "How can we let this happen? No country can afford this."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.