Ross: Trump is campaigning again, playing the old hits and new ones too

Trump is running. And he’s running as himself.

Last night’s speech was triumphant, defiant, unrepentant, self-aware of its political incorrectness, and a blend of teleprompter and improv.

More from Dave Ross: Don’t fall for a phony debt crisis, Social Security isn’t going away

“People tell me, ‘sir, that’s politically incorrect to say.’ I say, ‘that’s okay. I’ll say it anyway if you don’t mind,'” Trump said in his speech.

And it was fact-checked in real time on the New York Times website, which took full advantage of what has to be the largest fact-check archive on any living human being.

Within seconds the Times was flagging false claims –

Fact check: No, Trump’s tax cut was not the ‘biggest’ in history.

Fact check: Trump’s incomplete border wall did not stop unauthorized immigration and drugs.

I’ll leave you to look up the rest on your own. One of the highlights of the speech – the abiding admiration for China’s Xi Jinping

“In China, when I was with President Xi, I said, ‘President, do you have a drug problem?’ He said, ‘No, we don’t have a drug problem,'” Trump said in his speech. “‘How come you don’t have a drug problem?’ He said, ‘quick trial.’ What is a quick trial? That’s where if you get caught dealing drugs, you have an immediate and quick trial. And by the end of the day, you’re executed.”

Admit it – some of you are nodding your approval….

And the end-of-speech ritual has a new line:

“We will make America glorious again.”

And I think that’s significant.

Because this is not just to win back the White House – this is for the glory. The ultimate payback for Russia, Russia, Russia. The ultimate middle finger to the media, and a clear challenge to the United States Department of Justice – he sent the Attorney General a clear five-word message: I Double-Dog Dare You.

Oh – and no more Rolling Stones walk-off music – now it’s Sam & Dave.

And I’ll leave you with this: a comment posted by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman – their Trump whisperer, who wrote, somewhat ominously – “Democrats excited to run against him – are forgetting how excited they were to run against him in 2016.”

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