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Donald Trump's first campaign rallies since the start of his criminal hush money trial in New York barely mentioned the reason for his absence from the campaign trail.

But in lengthy speeches in Waukesha, Wisc., and Freeland, Mich., Wednesday, Trump continued to escalate his rhetoric around what a second term would look like — and the consequences he foresees if he doesn't win.

 that published earlier this week outlining an 

 including a push to revive the authority to withhold congressionally appropriated funds and give police further immunity from prosecution to crack down on immigrants and perceived crime hotspots. 

Many of his signature proposals and policies mentioned frequently at campaign events were on display: increased oil drilling, a rollback of President Joe Biden's economic policies including the Inflation Reduction Act and a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill and the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

 around Israel's military action in Gaza in response to an Oct. 7 attack on the country by Hamas. 

He called on those schools to "vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students" while making inflammatory remarks about refugees from the conflict as part of his hardline immigration views.

In his Wisconsin speech, Trump implied Palestinian refugees resettled in the U.S. would bring "jihad" and warned of an "Oct. 7-style attack" as he reiterated his proposal to enact a travel ban from majority-Muslim countries and vowed to oversee "the largest deportation in the history of our country."

Over the course of nearly three hours of speaking between the two rallies, very little time was spent mentioning the ongoing trial in New York, where yesterday Trump was held in contempt of court for 

 against comments about witnesses and jurors in the case.

In Wisconsin, Trump mentioned a "crooked judge" and the Georgia prosecutor overseeing a 

 stemming from the failed effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat, but largely reflected upon the polling boost the criminal charges brought him.

In Michigan, Trump was more expansive with his displeasure. He decried a "fake trial" in New York and said the judge was unconstitutionally stopping him from speaking, while arguing the multiple criminal cases against him "bullshit."

"As you know, I have come here today from New York City, where I'm being forced to sit for days on end in a kangaroo courtroom with a corrupt and conflicted judge enduring a Biden sideshow trial, at the hands of a Marxist District Attorney, Soros-backed, who's taking orders from the Biden administration," Trump complained. 

The New York trial has sidelined much of Trump's ability to campaign and take advantage of earned media coverage through interviews, social media posts and reactions to other news of the day. Bad weather forced the campaign to 

 on April 20 in North Carolina at the last minute.

But time away from the trail has not changed Trump's message or delivery in a race that he says will determine if the country survives.

At the evening Michigan rally, Trump repeated stories about Mexico providing troops to patrol the border with the United States, hypothesizing war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East would never have happened if  he was in charge and warning that Biden winning in November would "destroy" the country.  

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Election 2024

Stephen Fowler

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In Wisconsin and Michigan, Donald Trump largely avoided the hush money trial that has mostly sidelined his campaign efforts as he tried to woo voters with a familiar speech in two major swing states.

Away from his New York trial, Donald Trump's campaign rallies are business as usual

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