As promised at last week's Republican midterm convention, Trump has hit the campaign trail to stump for 35 House and Senate races ahead of the November midterm elections. His first stop: North Carolina, where Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley's race is key to keeping the Republican majority in the Senate. 

On Wednesday, Trump framed his speech around law and order, highlighting how the Trump administration's focus on combating crime has benefited the Tar Heel State.  

  • In North Carolina, crime fell across all four major categories in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, including a 12.4% drop in murders, an 18% drop in robberies, and a 23% drop in motor vehicle thefts. Violent crime and motor vehicle thefts also fell in 2025 compared with 2024, including an 18% drop in homicides, a 21% drop in motor vehicle thefts, a 20% drop in robberies, and a 14% drop in aggravated assaults.

  • In Charlotte, overall crime fell 9% in 2025 and violent crime fell 21%, including a 13% drop in homicides, a 24% drop in robberies, and a 20% drop in aggravated assaults. In the first half of 2026, overall crime fell another 16%, violent crime fell 8%, and property crime fell 17%.

  • In Raleigh, violent crime and property crime dropped in the second quarter of this year compared with last year, including a 33% drop in homicides.

  • In Wilmington, overall crime fell 16% in 2025, with violent crime down 17% and motor vehicle theft down 22%.

  • The Trump Administration is swiftly removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from North Carolina, with Operation Charlotte’s Web alone producing more than 1,300 arrests.

Trump pledged that the days of migrant criminals, gangs, drugs, lawlessness, filth, and squalor are over. "President Trump and the Republicans in Congress are making America Safe Again. We're never going back to the disaster we had just two years ago."

WATCH:

@POTUS in North Carolina: For years, pro-crime politicians have tried to bully you into silence while they turned your cities into blood-soaked killing fields and flooded your communities with migrant criminals — but those days are OVER.

President Trump and Republicans are Making America SAFE Again — and we are NEVER going back to the disaster we had just two years ago. 

Trump then detailed the difference between Whatley and his opponent: former Democrat Gov. and Senate candidate Roy Cooper. Under Cooper's eight years as governor, he allowed serial criminals and rampant crime.

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Trump said to the crowd:

"This guy... this governor, when he was governor, he let out 3,500 people, many of them murderers. You can either vote for Roy Cooper to set loose criminals who rape and murder your children and your population, or you can vote for Michael Whatley to protect and defend your children and your population. So, and I say this, because I know he's a great guy. He's a strong guy though. Michael Whatley is the candidate of law and order."

WATCH:

"You can either vote for Roy Cooper to set loose criminals who rape and murder your children...Or you can vote for @WhatleyNC to protect and defend your children...Michael Whatley is the candidate of LAW AND ORDER."

Trump outlined Whatley's commitment to not only keep North Carolina safe and remove sanctuary cities and sanctuary policies, but he affirmed that if Whatley is elected to the Senate, he will commit to partner with the Trump administration and further policies which maintain law and order for all North Carolina citizens.

WATCH: 

Trump went on to tout the Working Families Tax Cuts, and how it has put money back into North Carolinians' pocketbooks through No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, No Tax on Social Security, along with substantial tax refunds. For tax year 2025, taxpayers saw average refunds of $3,542. Trump called Whatley to the stage, and he echoed how Trump is working "every single day" to Make America Great. 

"I am still with that guy," Whatley said. "And I'm excited about running for Senate, because I want every North Carolina family to make more money, to keep more money. I want every community to be safe and secure. I want us to have the strongest Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard in the entire world."

WATCH: 

.@WhatleyNC will make North Carolina SAFER, RICHER, and GREATER:

"I want every North Carolina family to make more money, to keep more money...to be safe and secure. I want us to have the strongest Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, in the entire world."

Whatley concluded his remarks with an aspirational vision: that every American, their children and grandchildren, can achieve the American Dream.

"I'm running for Senate because I want every one of your kids, and every one of your grandkids, to live the American Dream, just like I have here in North Carolina. And I am excited about fighting for North Carolina, for every family, for every community, and fighting alongside the greatest president of our lifetime: Donald J. Trump!"

And it's not a Trump campaign stop without the quintessential Trump Dance to the tune "YMCA."