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Some Arab- and Muslin-American leaders endorsed Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally Saturday in Novi, Michigan.

The endorsements are notable in the key swing state that is home to more than 200,000 Muslim-American voters. According to RealClearPolitics' polling average, Trump holds the narrowest of leads over Harris in Michigan, 47.9% to 47.7%.

"We're winning overwhelming support from the Muslim and Arab voters right here in Michigan," Trump told the crowd.

That support from Muslim leaders includes Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, as well as Imam Belal Alzuhairi.

Saturday's rally occurred less than 24 hours after Israel struck Iran with strategically targeted missiles the night before. The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East was among the reasons the Muslim and Arab leaders cited in their endorsement of the former president.

"We are supporting Donald Trump because he promised to end war in the Middle East and Ukraine," Alzuhairi said. "The bloodshed has to stop all over the world, and I think this man can make that happen."

Alzuhairi added, "I personally believe that God saved his life twice for a reason," referring to the two unsuccessful assassination attempts against Trump's life.

Two recent polls indicate that many Arab- and Muslim-Americans, traditionally voting blocs for Democrats. are drifting away from Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris as the Biden-Harris administration struggles to balance U.S. support for Israel with appeasing a significant anti-Israel faction within the Democratic Party.

In one poll of 500 Arab American registered voters conducted by The Arab American Institute, Trump and Harris were nearly split, 42-41%, a drop in support from the level Democrats received in 2020, as The Center Square previously reported.

In the other conducted in late August, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a poll showing American Muslim voters supporting Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and Harris equally, at 29% each, with Trump at 12%. In Michigan, the poll found that 40% of Muslim voters support Stein, 18% support Trump, and just 12% support Harris.

The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing roughly 16,000 Border Patrol agents nationwide, endorsed former President Donald Trump for president while criticizing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Monday, the union issued a statement, saying, “On behalf of the 16,000 men and women represented by the National Border Patrol Council, we strongly support and endorse Donald J. Trump for President of the United States.”

They did so after endorsing Trump at a Prescott, Ariz., rally on Sunday where Trump was joined by many Border Patrol leaders.

"If we allow border czar Harris to win this election, every city, every community in this great country is going to go to hell. The untold millions of people unvetted, who she has allowed into this country that are committing murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries and every other crime will continue to put our country in peril,” NBPC’s new president, Paul Perez, said.

"Only one man can fix that. That is Donald J. Trump. He has always stood with the men and women who protect this border, who put their lives on the line for the country."

The union also said border experts want Trump to be president “so that the border can be secured without compromise. Only the drug cartels and Democrats want an open border – that’s what Border Czar Harris has given them and will continue to do in the future.”

The union’s leaders for the last nearly four years have joined Trump at border events in Texas and Arizona. After Trump announced he was running for reelection, the NBPC’s former president, Brandon Judd, endorsed him and joined him at campaign events.

The NBPC has repeatedly criticized the border policies of Biden and Harris, arguing they created the border crisis. The union has also repeatedly fact checked claims they’ve made, including refuting that it had ever endorsed Biden for president.

Prior to dropping out of the presidential race, during the June presidential debate, Biden claimed, “the Border Patrol union endorsed me, endorsed my position.”

In response, the union posted a statement on X, saying, “To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden.”

During the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Harris and Trump, Harris made comments related to “the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” which the union criticized. “She apparently only cares about other countries' sovereignty b/c when it comes to America, she and President Biden opened up the border, erasing any semblance of sovereignty,” it said.

After Harris made claims about her border policies at a campaign event in Douglas, Ariz., the union said, “VP Harris claimed that she played a role in increasing Border Patrol Agent overtime pay. This couldn't be further from the truth. As with all things border related she was no where to be found when we needed her.”

In response to Harris claiming that Border Patrol agents needed more resources, the union said, “We have apprehended over 8 million illegal immigrants over the last 4 years and now you realize we need more help 38 days before the election.

“Vice president Harris has ignored the border problem she created for over three years. She goes down there for 20 minutes for a photo op and decides to repeat some of the things the NPBC has said before. But again, where has she been the last 3 1/2 years?”

During the debate and at campaign rallies, Harris has repeatedly claimed she would sign a Senate border bill into law, which she says allocated funding to hire 1,500 Border Patrol agents. She and others claim Trump killed the bill.

On Sunday, Trump vowed to immediately ask Congress for funds to hire an additional 10,000 Border Patrol employees, give existing agents a 10% raise, and create a $10,000 retention and signing bonus, if elected president.

“I will always stand with the incredible men and women of Border Patrol,” he said. “They have a tremendous shortage because they haven’t been treated right. They want to do their jobs. You know, they consider it bad treatment when you’re not allowed to do your jobs.”

The Senate border bill does the opposite of what Harris and other proponents claim, according to the bill language, including allowing an unlimited number of illegal foreign nationals into the country due to numerous exceptions. The bill would codify existing policies created by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for which he was impeached in February, which Republicans argue is facilitating the ongoing crisis.

Texas officials also argued the bill would codify mass migration and nullify state sovereignty.

U.S. Senate Democrats and Independents ultimately didn’t support it; Senate Democratic leadership never brought it to a vote.

U.S. Senate Democrats have also sought to distance themselves from Biden-Harris border policies as local communities grapple with increased crime and social services costs associated with illegal border crossers. Senate leadership also refused to consider a border bill passed by the U.S. House.

Despite Harris’ recent campaign claims, while a U.S. senator, she sought to reduce funding and staff of federal border agencies, including seeking to eliminate U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, the agency responsible for removing some of the most dangerous criminals.

Eighty-four days later, former President Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the scene of an assassination attempt on his life in western Pennsylvania.

“As I was saying,” Trump said, the crowd responding in a roar as he turned toward a graph on a projector screen behind him. “I love that chart. I love that graph. Isn’t it a beautiful thing?”

The former president picked up right where he left off July 13, when bullets tore through the crowd killing one man and wounding two others.

The graph showed the amount of illegal border crossings recorded on Trump’s last day in office in 2021. It’s also the one he was looking at when a bullet from 20-year-old Thomas Crooks’s rifle grazed his right ear.

Moments later, U.S. Secret Services agents tackled Trump as a sniper shot and killed Crooks on the roof of the AGR building roughly 400 feet from the rally stage.

In his return, Trump thanked them as well as the local law enforcement and emergency responders who leaped into action in the aftermath of the shooting.

“They were on top of me so fast,” he said of the Secret Service agents. “They were on top of me and there was not even a moment of doubt in their minds.”

The comments contrast the intense scrutiny lobbed onto the agency in recent months as the cascading series of communication and security failures at the rally came to light. A second attempt on the former president’s life while he golfed in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15 drew further ire.

On Saturday, however, those concerns weren’t on Trump’s mind. Instead, he took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris and “the very corrupt political establishment,” who he says villainize him, and the “everyday people” who “are the heart and soul of this country.”

“So, what our opponents have never understood is this movement has never been about me; it’s been about you,” he said to the crowd before referencing the “millions and millions” of supporters across the country. “Your hopes are my hopes. Your dreams are my dreams and your future is what I’m fighting for every single day.”

The long-anticipated event commenced exactly one month before Election Day and featured appearances by Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Laura, and Elon Musk. Vance is the vice president nominee on the ticket; Lara Trump is co-chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Moments throughout turned poignant as Trump ordered a moment of silence for 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief who died shielding his family from gunfire on July 13. The reflection was capped by an operatic performance of Ave Maria by Christopher Macchio.

“Some people don’t just die in vain, and what he’s left behind is incredible,” Trump said. “God bless you, Corey. God bless you.”

At times, the former president lambasted the Biden administration for its border policy, investments in foreign conflicts, and social politics. At others, he thanked the crowd for their support even after his critics carried out multiple impeachments, indictments and ballot challenges.

“And who knows, maybe even tried to kill me,” he said, referencing fringe conspiracies about Crooks’ motive. “And in turn, you have always stood with me, no matter what. We are a great team."

The Biden-Harris administration took a tidal wave of criticism this week after U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Administration did not have enough funds to cover the rest of this hurricane season.

Those comments drew criticism from Republican lawmakers, billionaire Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump because FEMA has spent at least hundreds of millions of dollars on resettling migrants in the U.S. since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s self-inflicted border crisis has wasted American taxpayer dollars on services for illegal immigrants and is now struggling to help Americans suffering in the wake of natural disasters like Hurricane Helene,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told The Center Square after it reported on the FEMA’s migrant spending.

FEMA is subject to DHS' authority and under the Biden-Harris administration has been focused on helping the recent influx of more than 14 million migrants settle in the U.S.

As The Center Square previously reported, FEMA announced $640 million in new funding for helping migrants in April of this year, $300 million for “direct funding” to help immigrants, and $340 million for cities via grants to help migrants, part of a larger FEMA focus on resettling migrants in the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration. These amounts don't include FEMA tax dollars spent on migrant relocations earlier in Biden's term.

“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas told reporters earlier this week, adding that “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season” and that they expect another hurricane to hit.

The FEMA cash crunch for hurricane victims while FEMA has more than enough for migrants became a stark example of controversial prioritization in the Biden-Harris administration, which continues to take fire for its handling of the border crisis.

The FEMA example proved to have political utility amid the ongoing battle over illegal immigration in an election year.

“There’s nobody that’s handled a hurricane or storm worse than what they’re doing right now,” Trump said at a rally Thursday.

“Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants, many of whom should not be in our country,” Trump continued, exaggerating the figure.

The White house has strongly pushed back on Trump's comments, calling them "false" and arguing that the funding sources for migrants and disaster relief come from separate sources.

Critics have argued it is a problem of mission drift at FEMA and prioritizing funding for migrants when disaster relief funding is running low, though Congress appropriates the funding in the first place.

A White House spokesperson told The Center Square that Hurricane Helene victims will be well taken care of and that there is no danger of running out of funds to help with this hurricane recovery.

“FEMA has what it needs for immediate response and recovery efforts,” said Director of Public Affairs and FEMA spokesperson Jaclyn Rothenberg. “As FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has said, she has the full authority to spend against the President’s budget, but we’re not out of hurricane season yet so we need to keep a close eye on it. We may need to go back into immediate needs funding and we will be watching it closely.”

Critics online took issue with the $750 in emergency assistance for individual Helene victims touted by Harris, arguing it is not enough when so much money is going elsewhere.

A White House spokesperson told The Center Square that the $750 is just immediate assistance for victims and does not mean they will not receive more money to help with damage to their homes and other standard emergency assistance.

Critics argued FEMA has become distracted focusing on noncitizens because of the fallout of an unaddressed border crisis instead of American citizen storm victims.

“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris must put Americans first and take action now to reverse their open borders policies that are bleeding Americans dry,” Comer told The Center Square.

On Saturday, former President Donald Trump will return to the same rally stage in Pennsylvania where he stood when a would-be assassin opened fire in July, nearly taking his life.

Trump confirmed the visit to Butler on X, alongside the now-iconic image of him raising his fist into the air, blood smeared across his face as the American flag drapes in the background.

The moment, recognized as a historic turning point in an unpredictable campaign cycle on all sides, was only the first attempt on Trump’s life. A second man, 58-year-old Ryan Routh, sits in jail after opening fire at the former president as he golfed in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 15.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was the Butler gunman and killed by security. Corey Comperatore, in the audience behind Trump, was killed by Crooks' shots.

Security measures for Saturday, however, are already ratcheting up, according to multiple media reports. In an interview with NBC News, a woman who sells merchandise at the rally said the security perimeter surrounding the venue is already “locked down.”

That perimeter has been the source of much scrutiny from a congressional task force investigating the July 13 shooting that killed the 50-year-old Comperatore and severely wounded 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaven.

During a Sept. 26 hearing in Washington, lawmakers balked at the U.S. Secret Service’s decision to leave the AGR building, located roughly 400 feet from the rally stage, outside of its purview – even after local law enforcement warned them of the danger.

Drew Blasko, a patrolman with the Butler Township Police Department who served as assistant team leader of one of two local sniper units on duty that day, said he asked for more guards to protect the area.

Despite an assurance to the contrary, the request was unfulfilled – a point that was illustrated when Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., showed a state trooper’s dashboard camera footage that caught the shooter, Crooks, scaling the roof of the building. In just three minutes he opened fire.

The request for more outdoor guards wasn’t the only resource discussed that never showed up on the day of the rally. Adams Township Police Sgt. Edward Lenz, who commanded the Butler County Emergency Services Unit that day, and Pennsylvania State Police Lt. John Herold said sniper fencing was intended to cover a chain-link fence separating the AGR complex from the farm show grounds. Additional barriers, including a large projector screen, were not set up either.

During congressional questioning, the lawmen agreed that eight to 10 more officers stationed outside the building would have likely prevented Crooks from getting into position. Foot traffic around the complex could have been restricted – upward of 200 people who had not gone through security screening were reportedly watching the rally from the parking lot – and approximately 5 acres of the building’s land could have been sectioned off from the public. A sniper on the nearby water tower, cameras on the building’s roof and blocked-off parking would have been other options, the officers added.

The perimeter around the Florida golf course where a gunman with an AK-47 style rifle was perched while former President Donald Trump played nearby was not secure because Trump isn't the sitting president, authorities said.

The FBI is investigating the incident as the second assassination attempt on Trump's life since July. The suspect is in custody.

During a news conference after the gunman was spotted pointing the nuzzle of the rifle through a chain-link fence toward the course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the suspect was able to get within 300 to 500 yards of Trump because the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee doesn't get the same level of security as a sitting president.

"Well, you got to understand, the golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight, all right," Bradshaw said after a question about how the gunman could get so close. "And at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president. If he was, we would have [the area around the] golf course surrounded. But because he's not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible. So I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there'll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done. They provided exactly what the protection should have been, and their agent did a fantastic job."

Sunday's incident occurred two months after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Trump was grazed by a bullet in his ear in the Pennsylvania shooting just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention. The suspect in the earlier assassination attempt was shot ad killed at the scene.

The Secret Service was widely criticized for its lax security efforts after the Pennsylvania attempt. Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, resigned under heavy pressure.

(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are tied in a new poll of Wisconsin voters.

In a head-to-head matchup between the Republican and Democratic nominees for president, the American Greatness/TIPP poll of likely and registered voters shows both Trump and Harris at 47% support.

When independent and third party candidates are added, Harris garners 46% support to Trump's 45%, within the poll's +/- 3.4% margin of error. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulls in 6% support, with 2% undecided.

"The presidential race is very tight like 2020, within the margin of error," pollster Raghavan Mayur with TIPP told The Center Square. "It is probably the tightest among the battleground states."

Mayur said that the economy, immigration, and national debt/government spending are the key issues that could sway independent and undecided voters in the state, with 52% listing the economy as among their top three issues and 36% citing immigration and border security.

Within the economy, the price of food and inflation overall are the top concerns of voters, Mayur said.

"Independents are more closer to Republicans than Democrats in terms of issues," he said. "Further, 61% feel they are worse off than four years ago" while just 33% said they are better off and the remaining are unsure.

"Harris' relief rally/honeymoon advantage is nearly non-existent in Wisconsin," Mayur said.

Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race July 21 under heavy pressure from top Democratic leaders. Democrats are set to make the nomination official at their national convention that begins Monday in Chicago.

The TIPP poll surveyed 1,015 registered voters in Wisconsin, of which 976 were likely voters. The poll was conducted August 12-14 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.4%.

Multiple whistleblowers have come forward telling U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that many working as part of former President Donald Trump’s security detail at a rally in Pennsylvania one week ago weren’t Secret Service and were “unprepared and inexperienced personnel,” Hawley says.

The accusation comes after the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on which Hawley sits, announced it will conduct a bipartisan investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt of Trump.

Multiple whistleblowers contacted his office “with disturbing new information behind the assassination attempt on the former president,” he said.

They did so after Hawley opened a whistleblower tip line, pledging to protect the anonymity of everyone who contacts his office. Whistleblowers are encouraged to make protected disclosures by calling (202) 224-6154 or emailing [email protected].

In response to the information he has received so far, Hawley contacted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the U.S. Secret Service, demanding answers.

“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event,” he wrote to Mayorkas.

“Whistleblower allegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations. This is especially concerning given that HSI agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events, according to the allegations.”

Other security failures identified, he says, include not using canine units to monitor entry and detect threats among the perimeter or crowd; unauthorized individuals accessing the backstage areas; and DHS personnel not “appropriately polic[ing] the security buffer around the podium and … not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”

Hawley demanded answers after DHS “has not been appropriately forthcoming with members of Congress,” he said, and after he called on the committee’s chair, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., to immediately launch an investigation.

“Although we still do not have all the facts, the little that we do know suggests a staggering security failure,” he wrote to Peters. “Evidently, the shooter was able to gain an elevated position on a rooftop with a clear line of sight of the President, well within accurate range, with a firearm. The details of this tragedy must be vigorously investigated by Congress, including the motive of the shooter, and the serious operational failures that occurred on July 13.” Hawley called on Peters to “launch a full, public, and comprehensive committee investigation into this assassination attempt and failures to adequately protect the former president,” including calling Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify.

Peters and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, the ranking member of the committee, announced the committee will conduct a bipartisan investigation and hold a hearing. They first requested an urgent briefing with the Secret Service, DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A call committee members did have, Hawley says, was ended before they could ask a single question. “This is completely unacceptable and contrary to the public’s interest in transparency,” he added.

Peters said the committee “is focused on getting all of the facts about the security failures that allowed the attacker to carry out this heinous act of violence that threatened the life of former President Trump, killed at least one person in the crowd, and injured several others.”

Peters and Paul also sent letters to Mayorkas and to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting a range of documents and information on security process, among other information. A briefing was requested before July 25 and a public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1.

Hawley is also demanding answers from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink requesting all records related to the assassination attempt after it became public that the alleged shooter appeared in one of BlackRock’s commercials.

What appears to be a clip of the commercial “has circulated widely on social media and raised the question about what your company knows about the shooter,” Hawley told Fink.

Fink is requested to provide the information by July 24.

When accepting his party’s nomination for president, Trump said at the Republican National Convention last week that surviving the assassination attempt was “a gift from God.” At a rally on Saturday, one week after the shooting, he said he “took a bullet for democracy.”