AUSTIN, Texas _ Greeted by die-hard supporters and vocal protesters, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump swept into Austin on Tuesday for three rapid-fire events meant to raise money and steer the campaign's focus toward securing the U.S. border with Mexico.
Lines began forming hours before Trump's plane landed in Austin around 2:30 p.m. _ direct from a fundraiser in Fort Worth _ sparking frequently tense exchanges between protesters and Trump supporters who were waiting to enter ACL Live downtown to watch a town hall event led by Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
About 70 protesters, some with faces painted as clowns, chanted "Love trumps hate" and waved signs that included "Hill yes" and "Inbreds 4 Trump."
"You must be on welfare if you love Hillary," a Trump backer yelled at protesters.
Inside the theater, cameras were rolling for a special to air over two nights _ the first half devoted to what Fox called the "victims of the immigration crisis," including women who said their children were killed by immigrants who were in the United States illegally.
Trump told Hannity _ who has emerged as a leading supporter of the Republican nominee _ that he will stop illegal immigration.
"We're going to build a wall. It's 100 percent. It's so simple," Trump said, rejecting speculation that he was backing away from his campaign promise to erect a barrier on the southern border.
Asked by Hannity if there was room to accommodate immigrants who have been law abiding and "contribute to society," Trump indicated that there could be a "softening because we're not looking to hurt (such) people."
"You're reversing yourself!" shouted one person in the audience. "That's a flip-flop, Donald!" shouted a second.
"It's called evolution!" another audience member replied.
Trump's remarks followed contradictory signals this week on whether the candidate is abandoning his earlier pledge to deport an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally.
At one point in the taping, Trump asked the audience how he should respond to immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have no criminal record. The response was divided between supporters of immediate deportation _ "throw them out!" one person shouted _ to a slower approach, which got some applause.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined the show's second half, which focused on the perspective of Border Patrol officers.
Among those sitting on stage behind Trump and Hannity during the taping, which was interrupted several times by protesters, were Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, GOP candidate for state Senate Dawn Buckingham of Austin and state Rep. John Cyrier, R-Texas.
After the taping, Trump's motorcade traveled about four blocks to the Headliners Club atop the Chase Tower, where tickets to an evening fundraiser began at $2,700 per person, an amount that gave donors access to a general reception at 6:30 p.m.
Those who parted with a lot more _ from $25,000 to $100,000 per couple _ were granted access to a 15-minute photo opportunity to be followed by a 15-minute VIP reception and conversation with Trump, according to an online invitation to the event.
The fundraiser, like the Hannity taping and Trump's arrival at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, was closed to reporters (though several members of the media attended the Fox taping using general admission tickets).
Those attending included Perry, U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, former state comptroller Susan Combs and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Texas Democrats greeted Trump's arrival with denunciations of his immigration policies and a measure of glee at the prospect of a Republican presidential candidate spending valuable campaign time in GOP-safe Texas.
"If a Republican candidate is coming to Texas this late in August in an election year, things can't be going very well for him," said Rick Levy, secretary-treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO.
Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller pushed back, saying the rally focused attention on border security and calls for a special prosecutor to investigate whether foreign donors to the Clinton Foundation were granted special privileges when Hillary Clinton was secretary of State.
Trump will resume campaigning in battleground states with two Wednesday events in the Tampa, Fla., area, a Friday trip to Nevada and a Saturday event in Iowa, Miller said.
Trump's swing through Austin ended with a 7:30 p.m. rally at the Travis County Exposition Center, where the line to get inside stretched about one-third of a mile despite the afternoon heat.
Trump, entering to sustained applause, told the rally crowd that "the people of Texas are proud, they're independent, and they are free. There is no better place to deliver the message I have to deliver tonight."
"Tonight's message is about redeclaring our independence as a country," Trump said. "We are going to declare our independence from special interests, corrupt politicians ... and from a rigged system that benefits only the insiders."
Austin resident Steve Pavliska said he came to see history. "It's the first time we get to choose somebody who's not a politician. What a concept," said Pavliska, who added that before Trump caught his attention, he hadn't voted since Texas businessman Ross Perot ran for president as an independent in 1992.
Pavliska's stepson, 42-year-old Stephen Tinsman, wanted to hear Trump speak. "I'm tired of the lies," he said. "I know he's not lying, at least I don't think he is. I know the others are lying to me. So let's give Trump a whirl."
Lynda Beck of Cedar Park, a former Bernie Sanders supporter, now backs Trump.
"We've gone so far downhill," Beck said. "People aren't working. They're sleeping in cars. I think Hillary would just represent what we have already. I don't see that as a change."
