Inside a Donald Trump rally

Supporters arrived early and lined-up for hours, anxiously waiting to enter the building after passing security screening measures that had been tightened for the big event.

Signs erected at various points of entry also warned thousands of approaching patrons that they weren’t permitted to carry any firearms into the Spire Institute, US Olympic training facility.

Road-side verges leading into the sports stadium were also scattered with impromptu merchandise stalls and hustling hawkers scurrying to sell Trump campaign merchandise at a good price.

They offered t-shirts, hats, scarves, beanies, badges and other trinkets draped in Republican red and blue, promoting base campaign messages like “Trump - make America great again”.

Event staff warned the hawkers that they couldn’t sell any of their merchandise within the Institute’s boundary but were welcome to give it away.

But that didn’t dull their entrepreneurial spirits.

Inside the arena, Mr Trump’s supporters gathered and waited patiently for the star attraction to arrive, greeting familiar faces and chatting quietly among family and friends, as anticipation escalated and the mood deepened.

Prior warning was given about the presidential candidate possibly arriving late for his speech - scheduled for a 7pm start - due to attending other Ohio rallies at Springfield and Toledo on the same day.

However, his eventual 90-minute delay tested the crowd’s patience and commitment.

As time dragged on calls of ‘we want Trump; we want Trump’ sought to overpower an increasingly tedious, repetitive musical interlude that was blasting from the venue’s speakers, gradually destroying any remaining personal appeal and popularity of Rolling Stones’ classics like “Heart of Stone”.

But as the nauseating repetition persisted, the song’s lyrics started to evolve into a more intriguing message, in light of the election campaign’s repeated headlines about the improper treatment of women, linked to both candidates.

“There've been so many girls that I've known - I've made so many cry and still I wonder why,” crooned the Stones’ classic, over and over.

At one point, a tall blue curtain collapsed at the back of the stage where Mr Trump was due to speak, providing a momentary hint of excitement for the crowd and media to digest, before the screen was dutifully re-assembled by a band of serious looking men, dressed in suits and ties.

The scheduled warm-up routine commenced as planned, with local Republican representatives offering their campaign messages then everybody stood to attention, with hands on hearts, for the American national anthem.

As the delay lengthened, Mr Trump’s official campaign team offered virtually no explanation for his non-appearance, to the restless crowd or assembled media.

The only semblance of an excuse for the 90-minute stall was that Mr Trump’s running mate Mike Pence had been involved in a near-death experience when his plane skidded off the runway when landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Nobody was hurt in the incident and when he finally arrived, Mr Trump mentioned it at the closing of his 40-minute speech, saying that he’d just spoken to the future US vice-president who was okay, and everyone was fine, after coming close to “grave, grave danger”.

To kick-off his talk, the Republican candidate estimated that 13,000 to 15,000 people were at the rally and thousands more were still outside trying to get in.

He also took an early swipe at media reports on the rally for appearing to downplay the crowd numbers at only a few thousand, after being forced to guestimate in the ongoing absence of official calculations.

In the substance of his speech, Mr Trump spoke about the basic tenants of his presidential contact with the American people repeating many of his popular slogans and conservative, political messages.

He cited core commitments like decreasing taxes and red tape, increasing domestic security measures and border controls, strengthening the military, repealing the Obamacare health system, re-negotiating trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and shaking the traditional political power-base in Washington DC to rid it of systemic “corruption”.

He also changed his tune from saying what he’d do if elected, to pledging what he would do in office, after winning and being elected at the November 8 poll.

“In 12-days, we are going to win Ohio and we are going to win back the White House, believe me,” he said before talking about being ahead in opinion polls in Ohio and other key-swing States like Florida and Iowa.

Mr Trump attracted loud cheers and sparked hissing and hollering from various sections of the Ohio gathering when he referred to “the dishonest media” being on par with his political foe.

Some of his supporters turned towards the sectioned-off, centrally located pen where journalists had assembled on the arena floor and booed with agreeing disapproval.

“I’m trying to figure out who is more dishonest - crooked Hillary Clinton or the media?” Mr Trump bellowed.

“I’m not sure - that’s a close one.”

Mr Trump said 75 per cent of people thought America was “on the wrong track” and he promised to “fix it”.

“We’re going to get our country back on track, real fast,” he said.

Top of his presidential contract list was promising to immediately replace and repeal “job-killing” Obamacare, saying “it’s been a disaster from the day it was approved”.

“It should have never been approved – it was approved by lies,” he said.

“It is a total catastrophe, Obamacare in this country, and Hillary Clinton wants to keep it and make it more expensive.

“Replacing Obamacare is one of the single most reasons why we want to win on November 8.”

One of the biggest chants of the night erupted when Mr Trump referred to government “corruption” in Washington DC and his plans, as an outsider, to shake things up and “give government back to the people”.

“I want the entire corrupt Washington establishment to heed and to hear the words I’m about to say,” he said.

“I’ve been saying ‘if we win’ because I want to be nice but people are getting angry at me.

“But when we win on November 8, we are going to Washington DC and we are going to ‘drain the swamp’.”

A chorus of ‘drain the swamp, drain the swamp’ erupted in appreciation of the candidate’s bold three-word slogan.

Mr Trump pointed out a young boy in the audience who he said was also screaming ‘drain the swamp’.

“How cute,” Mr Trump said.

“He’s learning very young, about our government.”

Mr Trump said his new slogan wasn’t something he liked at first but it was now gaining in popularity, to convey his message, and winning him over too.

“It’s like Frank Sinatra - he was a special guy, a difficult guy - but he had songs that he didn’t like but they became his biggest songs so he liked them and ‘drain the swamp’ well, I’m starting to like it a lot,” he said.

“It’s very reflective of what we’re trying to do.”

Mr Trump said “Real change also means getting rid of the corruption in Washington, while referring to “crooked Hillary Clinton” who he said had bleached and deleted 33,000 emails, after a congressional subpoena, and lied to congress under oath.

He said his presidential rival then made 13 iPhones, “disappear…some with a hammer” which incited chants of ‘lock her up, lock her up, lock her up’

Mr Trump listed wasteful taxpayer spending items by Ms Clinton’s state department including $88,000 to send three comedians to India – which made nobody laugh at the rally – and more than $250,000 to purchase art in Mexico.

He then said the Mexicans were, “taking our companies and our jobs” which prompted chants of ‘build that wall – build that wall’.

“We are going to build the wall 100 per cent and Mexico is going to pay for it, don’t worry,” he said before adding another state department excess spending item of $410,00 to purchase art in China.

“The elites in government, like Hillary Clinton, believe they’re entitled to do whatever they want,” he said.

“Hillary Clinton has never earned an honest dollar.

“Let’s put it this way - what she’s done to our country is a disgrace and she should be ashamed of herself.

“She lives the high life at your expense making money off the rigged system.”

Mr Trump asked the crowd if they were in agreement with him about the “rigged” political system which attracted an approving cheer.

“This is an election between the small handful of people who benefit from the corrupt system and the great majority of American citizens who are the victims of that same corruption,” he said.

“Those who benefit from the corruption will say and do anything to keep it the way it is – they don’t want change.

“Washington insiders including the corrupt media (more booing) are so dishonest.

“The corrupt political class takes pride in ripping off the American people (and) now these same elites…are spending millions to put Hillary in the White House so she can keep the deal going on and keep what we really love about our country, the greatness of our country, from the American people.

“It’s not going to happen any longer – November 8 everybody.”

Mr Trump said he was running for President) to put an end to corruption and to expose the “crimes of our ruling class and give this country back to the middle class and to the people”.

“I did not need to do this but I love this country,” he said.

“I love the people of this country and it’s a movement like they’ve never seen before.”

Mr Trump said his contract with America and the American people included a plan to “bring back our jobs” in hard hit economic sectors like manufacturing.

“We are living through the single greatest jobs theft in the history of the world,” he said.

“Ohio has lost one in four manufacturing jobs since NAFTA – a deal signed by Bill Clinton and supported very strongly by his lovely wife Hillary.

“We’ve lost 70,000 factories since China entered the World Trade Organisation – another Bill and Hillary backed disaster.

“A Trump administration will immediately begin re-negotiating NAFTA and if we don’t get the deal we want, we will terminate NAFTA and get a much better and stronger and fairer deal for our workers and our country.

“We will also stand up to the Chinese currency manipulation of which they’re grand masters.

“We will become a rich nation again – but to be a rich nation we need to be a safer nation.”

Mr Trump pledged to keep radical Islamic terrorists “the hell out of our country” with a Trump administration securing and defending US borders.

“I have a message for the cartels and the drug dealers and the gang members preying on our citizens,” he said.

“When I win, your long reign of terror will come to a crashing and very inglorious end.

“We will have the wall, we’re going to stop the drugs and we will have big beautiful doors in that wall and people are coming into our country, a lot of people, but they’re going to come in legally.”

One of the biggest boos of the night erupted when Mr Trump told his supporters that Ms Clinton wanted to abolish the second amendment, as a means of tightening gun controls to cut down on crime and mass murders.

In contrast, a loud cheer erupted when he said, “My contract calls to saving the second amendment and protecting the right to keep and bear arms”.

“I’m asking you to renew your faith in the American dream,” he said.

“We’re fighting for every citizen who believes that government should serve the people – not the donors and not the special interests.

“Once again we will have a government of, by and for the people.

“Our good jobs are going to other countries and we’re going to stop it.

“We don’t make things anymore, we don’t win anymore, we don’t win with healthcare, we don’t win with ISIS - we can’t beat ISIS - (but) it’s going to change November 8.

“We’re going to start making things again and we’re going to start winning again.

“We will make America wealthy again, we will make America strong again, we will make America safe again and we will make America great again.”

As Mr Trump left the stage, the Rolling Stones returned once more with a subtle message via another classic, “You can’t always get what you want”.

“But if you try sometime you find - you get what you need.”