Hours after his about turn to end the forced separation of migrant families on the US-Mexico border, Donald Trump has attended a supporters rally to defend his hardline immigration policies and unleash his grievances about the media and those investigating him.
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The US president appeared in front of around 8,000 fans in Duluth where he played down the crisis that had threatened to envelope the White House as images of children being taken from their parents sparked global condemnation.
In his address he briefly mentioned his decision to sign an executive order after spending days insisting, wrongly, that his administration had no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of federal law and a court decision.
"We're going to keep families together and the border is going to be just as tough as it's been," Trump told the cheering crowd in Duluth.
He then denounced his political opponents and those who make unauthorised border crossings, suggesting that the money used to care for those immigrants could be better spent on the nation's rural communities and inner cities.
"Democrats put illegal immigrant before they put American citizens. What the hell is going on?" asked Trump, prompting the crowd to chant "Build the wall!"
The Trump administration still faces legal challenges because of a court order that caps how long immigration authorities may detain minors.
A Justice Department official was unable to clarify whether family separations would end immediately or when and how families now separated would be reunited.
The Trump order, an unusual reversal by him, moves parents with children to the front of the line for immigration proceedings but it does not end a 10-week-old "zero tolerance" policy that calls for prosecution of immigrants crossing the border illegally under the country's criminal entry statute.
During his appearance at Duluth, Trump also invoked his campaign kick-off speech, held three years ago this week, in which he declared that Mexico "wasn't sending their best" in terms of migrants crossing into the US.
That wasn't the only throwback moment at the rally, featuring a packed arena festooned with American flags and the crowd responding in chants to many of Trump's cues.
He fumed over what he deemed "dishonest" coverage of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He raved about the economy and his tough new tariffs meant to create fair trade. And he erroneously suggested that a recent Department of Justice watchdog report into the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe proved his innocence in the special counsel's Russia investigation while covering up Clinton's guilt.
Australian Associated Press
