--- title: Donald Trump 'Regrets' Some Things He Said description: Donald Trump struck a compassionate tone at a rally Thursday night, saying he 'regrets' some of his past statements canonical: https://time.com/4458529/donald-trump-regrets-north-carolina/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-19T01:12:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:18.692Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Says He 'Regrets' Some Past Remarks og:description: "I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain" og:url: https://time.com/4458529/donald-trump-regrets-north-carolina/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3824f4a708ed3cb/6988a2e5524fc024f0df934d/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2588 og:image:height: 1456 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Charlotte, NC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Says He 'Regrets' Some Past Remarks twitter:description: "I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3824f4a708ed3cb/6988a2e5524fc024f0df934d/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says He 'Regrets' Some Past Remarks > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 19, 2016 1:12 AM UTC  Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC, Aug. 18, 2016. Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC, Aug. 18, 2016.Brian Blanco—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 19, 2016 1:12 AM UTC Donald Trump struck a compassionate tone at a rally Thursday night, saying he “regrets” some of his past statements. “Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” Trump said in Charlotte, N.C., reading prepared remarks off a teleprompter. “I have done that and, believe it or not, I regret it. And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain.” His speech Thursday came days after a [campaign shake-up](http://time.com/4455827/staff-shakeup-signals-a-return-to-donald-trumps-rebellious-roots/?xid=tcoshare) which brought on [Stephen Bannon](http://time.com/4455686/who-is-stephen-bannon-trump/), formerly of the right-wing website Breitbart News, to be campaign CEO. Trump opened his talk with an appeal to American unity, a theme he carried throughout the evening. “When one state hurts, we all hurt,” he said of the flooding in Louisiana. Later, he made an explicit pitch to African Americans. “If African-American voters give Donald Trump a chance by giving me their vote, the result for them will be amazing,” he said. “What do you have to lose by trying something new? … This means so much to me, and I will work as hard as I can to bring new opportunity to places in our country which have not known it in a very long time. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party have taken African-American votes totally for granted. Because the votes have been automatically there for them, there has been no reason for Democrats to produce.” **Read More:** [Donald Trump Proposes ‘Extreme Vetting’ for Immigrants](http://time.com/4452970/donald-trump-immigration-isis-terrorism/?iid=sr-link1) Trump told the crowd he would fight for them and hammered Clinton, the Democratic nominee, as being out of touch and unwilling to be truthful or apologize for mistakes. “While sometimes I can be too honest, Hillary Clinton is the exact opposite,” Trump said. “She never tells the truth.” “In my Administration, every American will be treated equally, protected equally, and honored equally,” Trump said. “We will reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all of its forms.” **Read Next:** [Staff Shake-Up Signals a Return to Donald Trump’s Rebellious Roots](http://time.com/4455827/staff-shakeup-signals-a-return-to-donald-trumps-rebellious-roots/?xid=tcoshare) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4458529/donald-trump-regrets-north-carolina/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4458529/donald-trump-regrets-north-carolina/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says He 'Regrets' Some Past Remarks","datePublished":"2016-08-19T01:12:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:18.692Z","description":"\"I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain\"","url":"https://time.com/4458529/donald-trump-regrets-north-carolina/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3824f4a708ed3cb/6988a2e5524fc024f0df934d/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3824f4a708ed3cb/6988a2e5524fc024f0df934d/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Charlotte, NC","caption":"Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC, Aug. 18, 2016.","creditText":"Brian Blanco—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4458529/donald-trump-regrets-north-carolina/","name":"Donald Trump Says He 'Regrets' Some Past Remarks"}}]}] ```