Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking to supporters and veterans at Stevens High School in Claremont on Nov. 11. Courtesy photo

CLAREMONT – Speaking to supporters and military veterans at Stevens High School, presidential candidate Donald Trump warned that the outbreak of a third World War would almost be imminent if President Joe Biden is re-elected next November.

“World War III has never been closer than it is right now,” Trump said during his Veterans Day rally.

Should he be elected, Trump vowed to keep America from becoming entangled in such a conflict.

“It is my commitment to you that you will not have World War III,” he said. “As president, I will restore strength, power and prestige.”

Trump said he would also eradicate veteran homelessness, adding that illegal immigrants currently receive better treatment than American veterans.

“In the past three years, Biden has spent over $1 million to put up illegal aliens in hotels,” said Trump. “Meanwhile, we have over 33,000 homeless American veterans.”

Trump said that on his first day in office he would sign an Executive Order to “shut off Biden’s spigot of money” for the housing and transportation of illegal immigrants. He would then redirect that money to fund veterans programs.

As he has done in prior months, Trump once again criticized Biden’s strategy for ending the 20-year war in Afghanistan. He said that until that point, 18 months had passed without an American casualty.

“For 18 months we didn’t lose one soldier and then we had a rigged election,” he said, adding that 13 U.S. soldiers were killed when American forces withdrew in August 2021. “We pulled out as cowards, it was truly a surrender.”

Looking back on his four years in the White House, Trump said he extended the Veterans Choice Program allowing veterans to receive medical care from the doctor of their choice. The Trump administration also terminated 10,000 VA employees who were allegedly caught stealing prescription drugs. However, Trump said Biden is in the process of reinstating 5,000 of those employees at a cost of $200 million.

“With crooked Joe Biden in the White House, our veterans are being backstabbed and betrayed by their government,” he said.

Trump also said he signed the VA Accountability Act during his lone term in office.

“They were trying to get it done for 59 years,” he said. “We made a deal that nobody said could be made.”

Regarding the opioid crisis, Trump said the Granite State has been hit harder than anywhere else in the country.

“New Hampshire, for whatever reason, has a worse drug problem per capita than any other state,” he said.

Trump also said China imposes the death penalty on anyone convicted of selling drugs. As a result, he said China no longer has a drug problem. Therefore, Trump maintained that the death penalty would be an effective deterrent for anyone selling drugs in America.

“If you give the death penalty to drug dealers you will have no more problem,” he said.

As of Nov. 14, the national poll from The Economist/YouGov showed Trump with 57 percent of the vote in the Republican Primary. His closest opponent is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has 19 percent.

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