“We love our country. We love our country,” said former President Donald Trump. “It’s amazing. And it’s a great country. But we have to take it back.”

In an uncharacteristically short campaign event of just over 30 minutes, Trump returned to Wisconsin – and the city of La Crosse – on the night of Aug. 29 to again make his case for the presidency.

“And we’re going to bring it back and we’re going to make it healthy and beautiful and better than ever,” he said.

With most attendees arriving early in the morning, thousands stood in long lines outside the La Crosse Center, hoping they’d get a seat.

Trump superfan Stella Guy arrived a full day early. She was the first person in line.

“I got here last night at about 4 p.m., and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve stayed out all night long, and I’m ready to see him today,” Guy said.

But what about Trump’s political stances on specific issues does she support?

“The wall being built. Bringing our taxes down, help our economy out. I mean, he’s right for everything,” said Guy.

These issues also resonated with Onalaska resident Sharyl Huskamp

“I’m a Trump supporter. I’m against what happened at the border. And we need our economy to turn around. And it doesn’t look like the Democrats are going to do that, she said. “Our country needs to run as a business, pay our bills, pay our debt, take care of American people first.”

In all, more than 7,000 attendees made it into the arena.

Unlike other Trump campaign rallies, the event was billed as a town hall, where he was joined on stage by a moderator and took questions from pre-selected crowd members.

“What’s your plan to make life more affordable and bring down inflation for someone like me?” asked one.

“It’s probably the question I get most,” said Trump. “You know, they say you’re going to vote with your stomach. I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but it’s a little bit true. And groceries, food has gone up at levels that nobody’s ever seen before.”

He blamed bad energy policy and stalled oil production for the high cost of goods, promising to bring energy production back to the United States, and make it, he said, “the energy capital of the world.”

Trump offered more promises: “We’re going to pay down our debt and we’re going to reduce your taxes still further and your groceries are going to come tumbling down,” he said.

Another of only a handful of questions were about immigration.

“My concern is that illegal immigration is threatening opportunities for my children. I worry that it’s taking away jobs from Americans. I’m wondering, what will you do about that?” another attendee asked.

Though he didn’t get into specifics, Trump ultimately said he would find a way to fix immigration issues.

“They’re pouring in at levels never seen before. They’re coming in by millions and millions. And a lot of them are taking the jobs for the Black population, the Hispanic population and unions are going to be very badly affected,” he said.

Trump made more promises.

“We’re going to win this election. We’re going to turn this country around. We’re going to become an unbelievable growth country. And your boy is going to have the greatest job,” he said.”

Democrats said not to believe any of it, and urged voters to vote for Trump’s opponent.

“Kamala Harris is the only one in this race to put forward a plan that would actually lower costs for working families, keep jobs in Wisconsin, and pushing new generations to home ownership, to address grocery bills that are higher than they should be,” said Democratic Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez at a press conference in La Crosse held before the town hall.

In the heart of a Democratic city, in a swing state, Trump also made an eyebrow raising promise to cover the cost of in vitro fertilization.

“What we’re going to do is for people that are using IVF, which is fertilization,” he said, “the government is going to pay for it, or we’re going to get or mandate your insurance company to pay for it, which is going to be great. We’re going to do that.

With that, Trump’s short campaign stop made big government waves with the announcement that IVF would be funded by taxpayers or a mandate on private insurers to cover it — something Democrats called “unserious.”