SAVANNAH — Former President Donald Trump sharpened his plan to spur domestic manufacturing and steered clear of stoking new fights with local Republicans on Tuesday as he campaigned in Georgia amid signs that Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining ground in the critical battleground state.

Trump’s visit was the first to the state since an Aug. 3 rally in Atlanta during which he alarmed senior Republicans and rank-and-file voters by reviving a long-running fight with Gov. Brian Kemp that took weeks of intense behind-the-scenes work by his allies to calm.

Though there was no on-stage reconciliation Tuesday — Kemp was in Pennsylvania stumping for U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick — Trump called the governor “fantastic” and thanked him for his “great support.”

The former president focused parts of his speech on his pledge to boost domestic manufacturing by cutting taxes for foreign companies that move operations to the U.S. — and threatening tariffs on those that refuse.

The theme was welcome news for Republicans who have pleaded with his campaign to seize on economic issues that Georgia voters consistently rank as their top concern. Harris prepared to outline her own plan Tuesday to spur more domestic manufacturing with federal incentives.

Trump told thousands of supporters at Savannah’s civic center that he would recruit foreign companies by offering federal land and infrastructure improvements while also dangling a 15% corporate tax for companies that make their products in the United States.

It’s why the campaign picked Savannah to highlight his plan. The coastal Georgia city is home to one of the nation’s busiest ports, and Trump said it would grow more robust if his trade policy was enacted.

It’s why the campaign picked Savannah to highlight his plan. The coastal Georgia city is home to one of the nation’s busiest ports, which Trump praised during his speech.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

But along with the carrot of incentives, Trump also intends to wield a stick for those firms that rebuff his offer. He warned those businesses they’ll be forced to pay stiff tariffs, a term he said was “music to my ears.” He added that he’d place a 100% tariff on every car imported from Mexico.

“If you don’t make your product here, then you will have to pay a tariff — a very substantial tariff — when you send your product into the United States,” said Trump, adding that it would bring hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenue that would “benefit American citizens.”

It’s part of a broader plan that could overhaul the way Americans are taxed by embracing more robust tariffs. Trump has backed separate ideas to void taxes on tips and overtime, promised to roll back regulations and called on Congress to extend a package of tax cuts he signed in 2017.

“I’ll reduce your taxes. It will be a renaissance,” he said. “It will be a golden period.”

But Democrats warn Trump’s plan could impose trillions of dollars in new tariffs that will trigger stiff pricing hikes and start trade wars. Billionaire executive Mark Cuban called the tariffs a “tax on the American people” that would trigger new inflation during a call Tuesday organized by the Harris campaign. “It’s a national sales tax that would raise costs for every American,” he said.

Harris and her allies are set to support more targeted tax incentives they say would encourage new advanced manufacturing developments.

Battleground Georgia

While Trump stayed away from personal grievances with Georgia officials, he also frequently veered far from economic issues during a speech he billed as a “messaging” event rather than a full-scale campaign rally.

He recounted how he survived an assassin’s attempt on his life at a rural Pennsylvania rally and blamed Democrats for intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran. And he mocked Harris’ potential plans to visit the U.S. border with Mexico as he called his Democratic rival a “Marxist philosopher” and a litany of other insults.

Trump’s visit comes amid new efforts to unify Republicans and energize middle-of-the-road voters behind his bid to recapture Georgia four years after Joe Biden flipped the state by fewer than 12,000 votes.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released last week shows Trump with overwhelming support among Republican voters but deeper struggles among independents crucial to his campaign. About one-third back his bid, compared with roughly half who support Harris.

The race is increasingly narrowing to Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and a few other battleground states. And Trump supporters leaned into Georgia’s role in the final weeks of the race.

“When we win, the president of the United States is going to say it’s because of Georgia he won the White House back,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said. “It’s because the people of Georgia came together and realized it’s what’s in the best interest of Georgians.”

Credit: TNS

Harris, who delivered an impassioned speech about abortion rights Friday in Cobb County, challenged Trump to return to Atlanta on Oct. 23 for a second debate following their September showdown in Philadelphia. He has so far declined.

Democrats slammed Trump for avoiding a mention of abortion policy during his remarks Tuesday. Harris and her allies have worked to remind voters that his three appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court helped overturn Roe v. Wade two years ago, and Democrats have billboards throughout the Savannah area criticizing GOP anti-abortion laws.

”Trump is here today in Georgia, and I guarantee he will not be talking about issues that matter to us, like Black maternal health or reproductive health,” said Shawana Moore, an Emory University professor and nurse practitioner. “Georgia women need reproductive freedom without any restrictions.”

Trump’s campaign will maintain its focus on Georgia this week.

His running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, scheduled stops in Macon and Flowery Branch for Thursday. And Trump is expected to attend Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa.

Tuesday’s speech was a sharp contrast with his last campaign stop in Georgia, when he pummeled the Kemps with attacks so scathing that local GOP officials worried aloud they put his November chances at risk. Kemp responded by saying “leave my family out of it,” but he remained publicly supportive of Trump.

Trump blamed Kemp for his narrow 2020 defeat in Georgia, when the governor rejected his calls for a special legislative session to overturn the results. Trump then recruited former U.S. Sen. David Perdue to challenge him in the 2022 GOP primary. Kemp scored a crushing win.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Since then, Trump and Kemp appear to have patched up the lingering one-sided feud. The governor has been eager to put their personal differences behind him as he prepares for a potential run for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or the presidency in 2028.

Senior Republicans have urged Trump to set aside his animus toward the governor, who regularly polls as the state’s most popular GOP official. Among them is Vance, who peppered Kemp with praise at the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual dinner last week, calling him “incredible, patriotic and very effective.”

“It’s over now,” said Stevie Wall, a Pooler retiree who supports both Kemp and Trump and attended the Savannah event. “There were things said on both sides that didn’t sit well, but Kemp is supporting him now and knows Trump will be better for Georgia.”

Trump’s August appearance in Georgia also was notable for a different reason: He lauded a trio of State Election Board members who back rule changes supported by his campaign as “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.” The board remains in the spotlight for approving policies just weeks before the election that critics say could delay the reporting of results, undermine confidence in the voting system and set the stage for pro-Trump challenges if he loses.

The visit comes less than a month after Harris became the rare Democratic presidential candidate to swing through South Georgia. Her visit included an appearance at a high school in Hinesville, a coastal Democratic stronghold, as well as a high-energy rally at Savannah’s Enmarket Arena.

Staff writer Maya T. Prabhu contributed to this report.