SMITHTON, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump sat in a large barn in rural Pennsylvania on Monday, asking farmers questions and cracking jokes but, unusually at his campaign rallies, mostly listening.

The bombastic former president was unusually restrained at an event about China’s influence on the US economy, a panel discussion where farmers and manufacturers expressed their concerns about the loss of their way of life. Behind Trump stood large green tractors and a sign reading “Protect our food from China”.

The event in Smithton, Pennsylvania, gave Trump the opportunity to push his economic message against Vice President Kamala Harris, arguing that imposing tariffs and increasing energy production would lower costs. He emphasized that Harris had backed away from an earlier promise to ban fracking, a method of extracting natural gas that is central to Pennsylvania’s economy.

And he noticed that the tractors behind him were made by John Deere, which announced in June The company moved production of skid steers and track loaders to Mexico and worked to acquire land there for a new factory. Trump threatened the company with a 200% tariff if he regained the presidency, and the company decided to export production to Mexico.

“If they want to build in the United States, there are no tariffs,” he added.

Trump opened the event with some of his usual themes, stating that in 2020, “we had an election that didn’t exactly go well. And it was a disgrace.”

But then he did something unusual: he left most of the talking to others.

When one farmer said that numerous family farms had closed in recent decades, Trump asked what that meant for overall production. The response was that overall production has increased thanks to the larger farms now in operation, but “we’re losing the small family farms.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Trump replied somberly. He later said, “I’m not particularly worried that the people at this table will support him on Election Day,” adding jokingly, “But you never know.”

In response to another attendee’s concerns about energy production, Trump said he didn’t know farmers were so dependent on energy. Another farmer spoke about companies subsidized by China, to which Trump responded, “That’s why we need tariffs.”

After the same farmer’s wife finished her remarks with effusive praise, he said, “Amen. I agree.”

Trump supports imposing tariffs to appeal to working-class voters who oppose free trade deals and the outsourcing of factories and jobs. And the event wasn’t just about showing a more personal side.

Later, answering questions from reporters, the former president became even more aggressive when asked if he was concerned that tariffs on manufacturers like John Deere would raise costs for farmers. Of Harris, he said, “She’s not going to be good for Pennsylvania.”

Before an evening rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump bought a bag of popcorn at a farmer’s market and joked that if elected, he might order more from the Oval Office. He also gave a woman paying for groceries a $100 bill and said her total was “just down a hundred dollars.”

However, the change did not last long. At his evening rally, Trump returned to his old form and used an aggressive message to mobilize primarily conservative, white, working-class voters.

“She is a one-woman economic destruction machine, and if she stays in office for another four years, her radical agenda will destroy the economy and grind your financial situation into the dust,” Trump said of Harris. He claimed, “She wants to take away your guns,” even though the vice president stressed that she herself is a gun owner.

“She’s after your money. She’s after your pensions and she’s after your savings,” he said.

The former president urged his supporters to “go vote,” but scoffed at the idea of ​​early voting, saying without providing evidence that it would give more time for voter fraud. Citing unidentified sources, he said: “They said if we don’t win this election, there may never be another election in this country.”

At one point, the former president caught a glimpse of himself on the big screen and joked about a “handsome man over there” before concluding, “Oh, that’s Trump.”

He was also particularly candid with the rally audience, saying, “Honestly, I don’t like anyone who doesn’t like me,” before adding, “Sounds childish,” but “that’s the way it is… call it a personality defect.”

The tone was starkly different from Trump’s first event in Smithton, hosted by the Protecting America Initiative, which is led by Richard Grenell, Trump’s former deputy director of national intelligence, and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin.

Grenell told the small group of attendees: “China is encroaching on our farmlands, and we need to be able to see China very clearly.”

At the end of 2022, China owned nearly 250,000 acres of U.S. land, or just under 1% of foreign-owned land, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By comparison, Canada was the largest foreign owner of U.S. land, with 32%, or 14.2 million acres.

Yet the National Agricultural Law Center estimates that 24 states prohibit or restrict nonresident aliens, foreign companies, or foreign governments from owning private farmland. The problem arose after a Chinese billionaire bought more than 130,000 acres of land. near a US Air Force base in Texas and another Chinese company tried Grow a corn plant near an air force base in North Dakota.

Rex Murphy, of a nearby rural community who raises cattle and grows corn and hay, said farmers support Trump in that area, saying he wants lower taxes and “more freedom.”

“I want him to do everything he can for the economy,” said Murphy, 48. “If he just becomes president and does what he does, he will do even more.”

Harris is visiting Pennsylvania on Wednesday. At a fundraiser in New York on Monday, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, told a group of about 30 donors focused on climate change that Trump’s energy catchphrase of “drill, baby, drill” “is not a solution to the problems and the public knows it’s a cheap, easy thing to do.”

Speaking at a midtown Manhattan hotel to an audience that included former presidential candidate Tom Steyer and Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, Walz called climate change an “existential threat” but also an “incredible opportunity for the growth of our economy,” pointing in particular to farmers who use their land not only to grow crops but also to generate wind energy.

Joseph Costello, spokesman for Harris’ campaign, said: “For all his lies and pandering, Donald Trump used the White House to provide handouts to wealthy corporations and foreign companies.”

In a statement, Costello said these measures “came at the expense of family farmers, drove farm bankruptcies to record levels, and sacrificed small American farmers as pawns in his failed trade war with China.”

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Colvin reported from Indiana and Pennsylvania. Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Didi Tang in Washington and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.