Trump celebrates 78th birthday in West Palm Beach as Rubio makes surprise appearance

West Palm Beach, Florida – Former President Donald Trump on Friday night celebrated his 78th birthday at a Palm Beach Convention Center packed with supporters – including Republican Senator Marco Rubio – while continuing his well-known lines of attack on President Biden regarding immigration and foreign policy.

“Under my leadership, we have had no wars,” Trump declared. “Instead of a globalist warmonger in the White House, you had a peacemaker at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

The presumptive Republican presidential candidate took advantage of the prisons this week, of eight Tajik citizens accused of having links to ISIS. Before being detained, the men had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without proper documents and were issued notices to appear in immigration court, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.

“Our country has never been in danger like it is in danger now. Just this week, ISIS arrested not one, not two, but eight terrorist suspects at the highest level of terrorism,” Trump said.

The birthday party was organized by Club 47, a Palm Beach-based Trump fan club. Tickets for the celebration – which cost between $25 and $60 – sold out several days in advance.

Before his speech, Trump was presented with a six-tier cake decorated with images of Trump and topped with a red fondant MAGA hat.

It was a show of loyalty from Florida supporters and congressional allies to Trump, about two weeks later he was found guilty in his “hush money” Manhattan criminal trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Also present on Friday was Rubio – who was among those nominated as Trump’s possible running mate, sources previously told CBS News. Rubio gave a speech before Trump took the stage, also attacking Biden over the border.

“Now we have terrorists, criminals and drugs coming into our country through the open border, and he invited them into the United States,” Rubio said.

Last week, however, the president issued an executive order which makes it easier for US immigration authorities to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims.

This was the first time Rubio appeared on the 2024 campaign alongside Trump. It also happened two days after the senator – in an interview with Telemundo – defended Trump’s past controversial comments in which he said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”.

In Wednesday’s interview, Rubio said Trump’s comment wasn’t really about race.

“It’s a saying he uses, but it has nothing to do with race, because at the end of the day he’s talking about the country, not the population,” Rubio said. “The country is threatened by this influx of people, which we now know includes even criminals and terrorists.”

Trump could face legal hurdles in selecting Rubio as his running mate, as they both claim Florida residency. The 12th Amendment to the Constitution stipulates that, within the scope of the Electoral College, “The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for two Persons, of whom at least one shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State as themselves.”

The anniversary celebration comes as concerns persist among voters about the ages of Trump and Biden. In 2016, Trump was at the time the oldest person elected to the presidency, at 70 years old, a mark that was surpassed by Biden when he took office in January 2021, at 78 years old. elected, Trump would surpass Biden as the oldest person sworn in as president.

Meanwhile, Biden would be 82 years old if reelected and 86 years old at the end of his second term.

Trump appears to have an edge over Biden among Americans concerned about their cognitive abilities, according to a recent CBS News report. voting. Only a third of voters think Biden has the cognitive capacity to serve, while half of voters think Trump does.