--- title: Donald Trump Tries Retail Politics in New Hampshire description: Changing up his game. canonical: https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-08T17:01:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:25.215Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Tries His Hand at Retail Politics in New Hampshire og:description: Changing up his game. og:url: https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa05d831e9dc530/69887c9ee20a8754b4a8f6bb/donald-trump-new-hampshire-republican-cadidate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at an Elks Lodge in Salem og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Tries His Hand at Retail Politics in New Hampshire twitter:description: Changing up his game. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa05d831e9dc530/69887c9ee20a8754b4a8f6bb/donald-trump-new-hampshire-republican-cadidate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Latest Venture: Retail Politics > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=aa4b6a8a-3c48-47ec-b0b8-10b9a83ec815&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Twice a week | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=aa4b6a8a-3c48-47ec-b0b8-10b9a83ec815&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=aa4b6a8a-3c48-47ec-b0b8-10b9a83ec815&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=aa4b6a8a-3c48-47ec-b0b8-10b9a83ec815&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Candidates: Watch a Donald Trump Rally In Super Slow Motion [Watch (HLS stream): The Candidates: Watch a Donald Trump Rally In Super Slow Motion](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KMpivG6M.m3u8) (9:23)  _Published 2016-02-07. This video captures Donald Trump at almost 1000 frames per second._  by [Tessa Berenson / Salem, N.H.](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Salem, N.H. Feb 8, 2016 5:01 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at an Elks Lodge in Salem, NH on Feb. 8, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at an Elks Lodge in Salem, NH on Feb. 8, 2016. Rick Wilking—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson / Salem, N.H.](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Salem, N.H. Feb 8, 2016 5:01 PM UTC Donald Trump began his first event of the day in New Hampshire by admitting it was unusual territory for him. “I thought this was just a tiny little venue with a few people going to be here,” the real estate mogul said to an intimate gathering of people in Salem. “Sit down. Are you able to sit down?” he said, apparently unaware if there was enough space in the room for everyone to have chairs. “This is a little bit different. We crammed a lot of people into this venue, eh?” It was different. While normally Trump addresses audiences of thousands from behind a podium, Monday morning’s event was more of the true town hall style of retail politics. Trump held a microphone in the center of the room, sans lectern, surrounded by a few hundred people crammed onto temporary chairs. He spoke for about two minutes before he began the question and answer format, but during the course of the hour he spent in the room, he only vaguely answered many of the specific questions before pivoting to his usual speech material. Trump’s first question of the day was about what he would do to expand national service opportunities. “We’re going to look at it very seriously,” he said, before criticizing President Obama for not doing anything on that issue. (That’s not entirely true: Obama has [a mixed record on his campaign promises on national service programs](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/subjects/public-service/), but he did expand the Senior Corps and create an “artists corps” program, among other things.) Another questioner said his granddaughter had just been born, and asked Trump if he could promise she would grow up safe and receive equal pay. “She will be so safe. She will be so safe,” Trump said, before launching into his talking points on border security, the Syrian migrants, his vote against the Iraq war, and the need to treat America’s veterans with more respect. On college debt, Trump said, ““I’m going to look into colleges. … We’re going to do something with regard to really smart financing.” And when a 13-year-old boy asked him what he would do about the national debt, Trump replied, “We’re going to make our country strong, we’re going to do some great things. Don’t worry about it, just go to school, get an education.” Although when one voter from Greenwich, Connecticut, asked him if he’d be able to “look \[Syrian migrant\] children in the face and tell them they can’t go to school here,” Trump was quick and clear with his response. “I can look in their face and say they can’t come here,” he said. Trump’s forays into smaller, town hall settings in New Hampshire are evidence of how his team is refining its ground game after a surprising loss in Iowa. **Read More:** [_Trump Plays Catch-Up on Ground Game in New Hampshire_](http://time.com/4211569/donald-trump-new-hampshire-ted-cruz-ground-game/) Despite the fact that it’s the final day before the primary, Trump declined to criticize most of his Republican opponents besides former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “If he weren’t in government you wouldn’t hire him to do anything,” Trump said of Bush, also saying “he’s like a spoiled child” and that he’s “not smart.” Many members of the audience said they had already made up their minds about how they will cast their votes Tuesday night. A veteran who stood up to ask a question said it wasn’t really a question at all: “I’d like to make some statements of facts here as to why you must be President of the United States,” he began. “I’d vote 10 times if I could.” “I’m going to follow you around the United States for six months, put my business aside,” said another man in the audience who was from Boston, and said he’d been a fan of Trump since the 1980s. Later, a woman echoed the veteran: “I agree with the gentleman in the corner, if I could vote 10 times, I would,” she said. “That’s a minimal number you know, for some people,” Trump joked. After the event, as supporters filed out and Trump exited, one fan jumped up and down with excitement: “I got a selfie, I got a selfie!” ## Transcript Get him out of here please. Get him out. Get him out, get him out. Unbelievable. Get him out. [ MUSIC ] USA, USA, USA, USA. USA, USA! So ridiculous. Alright, get them out! Get them out. Get them out of there. [ MUSIC ] Come on. Let's go, Scott. Come on, Scott. Let's go. Get them out. [ NOISE ] Thank you. Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him. Do not hurt him please. I've done it both ways. I've done it rough, and I get criticized. I did it really rough. We had this one guy, really bad guy. He was swing and punching people. And I'm screaming, get him outta here, get him out, the place is going wild. The next day I got killed in the press. They said we were mean and horrible. You know four people ended up, one guy had a broken nose a black eye and I was rough. Right, the next day we had a similar kind of thing and I said do me a favor, don't hurt them. Don't hurt them, because of the press, don't hurt them. Easy and the next day they accused me of not being not strong enough. Do you believe it? And now I'm getting credit. They give me credit for vision. You know, vision's very important. You're running for president, you need vision, right? [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ SOUND ] [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ SOUND ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Latest Venture: Retail Politics","datePublished":"2016-02-08T17:01:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:25.215Z","description":"Changing up his game.","url":"https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","new hampshire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa05d831e9dc530/69887c9ee20a8754b4a8f6bb/donald-trump-new-hampshire-republican-cadidate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson / Salem, N.H."}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa05d831e9dc530/69887c9ee20a8754b4a8f6bb/donald-trump-new-hampshire-republican-cadidate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at an Elks Lodge in Salem","caption":"U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at an Elks Lodge in Salem, NH on Feb. 8, 2016.","creditText":"Rick Wilking—Reuters","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/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/","name":"Donald Trump's Latest Venture: Retail Politics"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Candidates: Watch a Donald Trump Rally In Super Slow Motion","description":"This video captures Donald Trump at almost 1000 frames per second.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KMpivG6M/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-07T22:33:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KMpivG6M.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/","duration":"PT9M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4212200/donald-trump-new-hampshire-retail-politics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```