U.S. President Donald Trump laid out what he sees as his administration's policy accomplishments on Friday (May 1), in a Florida speech before seniors that was a rare campaign-style stop ahead of November's midterm elections.

Speaking to voters in the conservative retirement community of The Villages, he credited a signature tax-and-spending bill passed last year with lowering taxes on Social Security benefits.

The trip, Trump's first appearance outside the White House since an apparent assassination attempt last weekend, comes as the Republican president's approval rating has fallen to new lows between his two terms.

"I should be indoors at a secure facility where I can quickly, beautifully and safely play out my term, destroying everything that comes in our way, like bad countries that want to get nuclear weapons," Trump said.

Some of his economic claims misrepresented his policies. The president, for instance, claimed to have eliminated taxes on social security benefits, when in reality his signature legislative package only reduced the portion of social security recipients who pay no tax on those payments by about 4 percentage points.

On another subject, Trump also recounted a conversation he said he had with French President Emmanuel Macron, claiming he threatened to impose a 250% tariff on French wines and champagne unless France raised its drug prices. He said Macron agreed to a deal after initially resisting the demand.

In a more lighthearted note, Trump also joked that First Lady Melania Trump dislikes his onstage goofing and dancing, saying she considers it unpresidential.

In many ways, the speech in The Villages represented a return to the kind of speeches he gave in 2024 on the campaign trail. Florida, while Republican-leaning overall, is home to several congressional districts that are expected to be exceptionally competitive in November.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

OCALA, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (MAY 1, 2026) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - No use USA)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ARRIVING TO EVENT

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"Now you know I shouldn't be here. There was just an attempt. I won't use the word an attempt, they say on my life. I should be indoors at a secure facility where I can quietly, beautifully and safely play out my term, destroying everything that comes in our way. Like bad countries that want to get nuclear weapons. We'll take care of them."

3. TRUMP DURING RALLY

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"We're here to celebrate a policy that benefits every American senior all across this land. And it's called no tax on Social Security. It's done. It's done."

5. TRUMP SUPPORTERS DURING RALLY

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"But thanks to the massive tax cut, American seniors just received the largest tax refunds of all time, by far. And here in the sunshine state, we've issued two and a half million Florida seniors, over $13 billion. Now, think of that. I don't happen to be a senior, I'm much younger than you. I'm a much younger man than you. Look at you old guys. Thank you. Wouldn't you like to be my age? It's young, vital, vibrant."

7. RALLY IN PROGRESS

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"That means more money to visit your grandkids. Bigger budget for taking a trip to someplace that you want to go or extra dinners out with your family. You're going to do a lot. You're going to do a lot. You know what to do with the money."

9. RALLY IN PROGRESS

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"Under the Trump administration, we're standing up for American seniors like no president has ever stood up before. And just as I promised, we're strongly protecting Social Security and Medicare, and we always will."

11. RALLY IN PROGRESS

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"So I'd call up, like as an example, France. I spoke with Macron. Right. You know, Macron, he's a wonderful guy, president of the country, nice guy. So I say 'Emmanuel, your drug prices are a tiny fraction of ours. We can't have that. We're going to have to raise it. No, no, no, Donald, I will not do that. No, no, you will, Emmanuel. No, You'll go 100. 100%, you're going to do it. No, no, no, I will not do it.' And this went on for about 2 minutes. I'm saying you will. He's saying he won't. So most people will say he won't do it. Then I said to him, Emmanuel, if you don't do it, I'm going to put a 250% tariff on all wines and champagnes that you ship into our country. And he said, 'Donald, Donald, how dare you? You should not do that. You cannot do that.' And I said, 'No, I'm going to do it'. Okay, you have a deal. I was like, Oh, shit. I had. And I told us I couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. And we had the same thing with Germany. We had the same thing with the other countries. And I said, Look, you're not going to do it. We're going to tariff the hell out of you."

13. TRUMP SPEAKING AT PODIUM (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"Now she's (First Lady, wife Melania) done a great job. But she hates it when I do the thing on weightlifting, she says it's so unpresidential. And she hates when I dance too at the end too. She hates when I dance to what's sometimes referred to as the gay national anthem. You know, she hates it."

15. TRUMP AT PODIUM MIMICKING WEIGHTLIFTING

16. VARIOUS OF TRUMP DANCING AT END OF RALLY