Former President Donald Trump plans to talk about national security when he visits North Carolina on Wednesday, highlighting an area where he has substantially more experience — but has also courted more controversy — than his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

The former president attracted criticism among former intelligence and national security officials for isolationist policies and for appearing to cozy up to leaders of foreign adversaries. Before this year’s primary elections, his former national security advisor called Trump’s style of governance a threat to national security.

Trump was also charged with endangering national security by taking classified military documents after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. The government’s case against Trump was dismissed last month by a Trump-appointed federal judge. The U.S. Department of Justice under Biden is seeking to reinstate the charges.

Most Republicans are expected to support Trump in November. But the speech, to be held in Asheboro, comes as Democrats and former Republicans who oppose Trump seek to woo national security-minded unaffiliated voters and Republicans in a state with some of the nation’s biggest military installations. It’s Trump’s second North Carolina visit in a week; he was previously in Asheville to talk about the economy.

North Carolina Republican Party leaders have sought to boost Trump by knocking Biden.

Chairman Jason Simmons said Tuesday that Biden has done a poor job of conducting foreign policy, and he wants Trump back.

And as Democrats are now seeking to play up the role Harris has played in Biden’s administration on issues including foreign policy — an arena in which the former U.S. senator and state attorney general from California has limited experience — Republicans are likewise seeking to tie her to their criticisms of Biden.

“We saw in the last three-and-a-half years the chaos that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden put on us, on this country,” Simmons said. “Especially what we’ve seen with our country, where we have a broken economy, a broken border and a broken world. Where we see Iran being able to, with its proxies, invade and being able to bomb Israel, one of our best partners in the Middle East. We have Russia and Ukraine, and China, watching the whole time. We are scared.”

A top Biden administration official, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, told WRAL in advance of Trump’s Asheboro speech that he has watched Harris engage in foreign policy in her role as vice president. He said she’s done a good job helping rebuild relationships with world leaders who became more cautious of the U.S., following Trump’s presidency.

“I’ve sat at her side as she engaged leaders from around the world, and has done a lot already to restore the respect for the US that was badly undermined during the Trump years,” Buttigieg said. “And that’s going to be especially important in things like defending democracy against the aggression of Vladimir Putin.”

A Pew Research Center survey in 2023 found America’s image in foreign countries has improved since Biden took over for Trump — and not just in Europe, but also Asia, Africa and South America.

Immigration as national security risk

As Trump seeks to return to office, he has sought to engage voters by broadening the scope of national security — which traditionally has focused on foreign policy issues — to include immigration enforcement at the country’s Southern border. For instance, Trump falsely claimed last year that Islamist terrorists are “pouring” across the border.

“He tries to make immigration the No. 1 national security risk,” Meredith College political science professor David McLennan said ahead of Trump’s speech. “He talks about it as being more significant than any international foe that we might think about. So he talks about drugs coming across the border, gangs coming across the border, ISIS coming across the border.”

Immigration is a key issue for conservative voters; a WRAL News poll in March found it was the single biggest issue for Republicans this year, beating out the economy for the top spot.

It’s possible that GOP officials are trying to take an issue their base is highly engaged in and tie it to national security — an issue some Trump opponents see as one of his biggest weaknesses.

“Among his supporters, that’s national security,” McLennan said of Trump’s immigration talking points.

Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson, who has become one of the nation’s leading “Never Trump” voices through his group The Lincoln Project, told WRAL earlier this month his group is preparing to start targeting what he calls “national security Republicans” in North Carolina. The state has an above-average population of veterans; Fayetteville and Jacksonville are home to two of the world’s largest military bases in the U.S. Army’s Fort Liberty and the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune.

The Lincoln Project messaging, Wilson said, will be aimed at veterans and fans of Reagan-era foreign policy with ads about Trump’s isolationist foreign policy stances, relationship with Putin and his comments about veterans.

Trump has repeatedly been accused of mocking or criticizing veterans killed in action or taken prisoner, including by his former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Most recently Trump downplayed the Congressional Medal of Honor, saying that since many soldiers who receive it are dead or maimed, it pales in comparison to a different award that’s often given to celebrities, athletes and politicians.

Wednesday’s speech offers Trump a chance to ask voters to look past his more controversial statements and scandals, and instead trust that he’ll deliver the kind of stances they want to see in a president, said Chris Cooper, a Western Carolina University political scientist.

“He needs to lay out a plan,” Cooper said. “He needs to stay on message. He needs to be a little more disciplined. I think the possibility is there. It’s an area where voters, on average, trust the Republican Party more.”

Trump’s record as president

Trump’s one term as president was notable for the departures he took from standard U.S. foreign policy. He was a frequent critic of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and he has indicated that if reelected he will pull the U.S. out of NATO — unless European members of the alliance pay more money into its operations.

The dissolution of NATO is considered a key goal of Putin. So, too, is Trump’s repeated indication that he might end U.S. aid to Ukraine if he returns to the White House, amid that country’s invasion by Russia.

In the early days of Trump’s presidency, he faced criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike after allegedly revealing highly classified military intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak. Trump was also pressured into firing his first national security advisor, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, for Flynn lying about separate conversations he had with Kislyak. Flynn later pleaded guilty to a felony as part of the probe into Trump’s Russian ties by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was also convicted as part of that probe. Trump pardoned both men after losing the 2020 election.

In the Middle East, Trump presided over military actions that led to the deaths of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. The latter assassination was praised by foreign policy hawks; it has also coincided with Iran becoming more aggressive in backing attacks against international shipping via its allies in the Yemen-based Houthi movement, and also against U.S. ally Israel via Hamas, the Iranian-backed group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Trump also signed a peace treaty with the Taliban during his final year in office, paving the way toward the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan during Biden’s first year in office — an act that saw the end of America’s 20-year-long military presence in the country. The withdrawal also drew criticism as being rushed and chaotic, particularly after suicide bombers killed 13 U.S. military members and dozens of Afghan civilians during the final days of America’s military presence there.

McLennan said he’ll be interested to watch whether Harris focuses on other issues as she goes up against Trump for the presidency, or if she leans into highlighting their differences on foreign policy. Harris is expected to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president during this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“Biden had some problems with the military because of the Afghanistan withdrawal and some other topics,” he said. “Harris tends to not be very vocal, and that’s what I’m watching for in her nomination acceptance speech: Does she talk at all about national security? Or is she going to give Trump that space?”

Laura Leslie, Jack Hagel, Brian Murphy and Paul Specht of the WRAL state government team contributed reporting.