Trump is making a trip to ultra-blue California to draw attention to the failed policies of Harris' homeland

As Election Day approached, former President Trump made a surprise trip to ultra-blue California to draw attention to the state's soaring inflation, crime and illegal immigration.

Trump landed in the Coachella Valley on Saturday night to face Vice President Kamala Harris in her home game.

Voters in the decidedly blue state came out in droves, and when Trump took the stage at 5:30 p.m. PST, he noted the sheer size of the crowd.

“We had a great reception here. Look at this crowd,” Trump said, marveling at the crowd. “As far as the eye can see, it’s like sheet material.”

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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, California, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Trump highlighted California's failed policies and said, “We have to do better.”

“I stand before you today in the heart of the majestic Coachella Valley to declare that the Republican Party will always put America first and lead us to victories like you have never seen before,” he said. “Because we have become the party of common sense.”

The former president promised that he would fight for “hard-working citizens of every race, religion, color and creed.”

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During the Trump campaign's announcement that the former president would make a rare visit to California, spokesman Steven Cheung said it was intended to “highlight Harris' poor record and show that he has the right solutions for every state and every American.”

Trump highlighted Harris and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's track records in the state and vowed to “save” him.

The radical left Democrats destroyed this state, but we will save it…

– Republican presidential candidate, former President Trump

“The radical left Democrats have destroyed this state, but we will save it,” he said. “And we will do it better than ever before.”

“I came here today to not only talk about California, where you have one of the worst governors in the country, Gavin Newsom, but you definitely had someone here who was terrible — Kamala,” he said. “And now she wants to destroy our country.

“She wants to destroy our country like she did in San Francisco,” he said.

Attendees cheer as Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, California, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump compared California to a “paradise lost” and parlayed his talk into a promise of a secure southern border.

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California is truly a paradise lost…

– Former President Trump

“California is truly a lost paradise, but we will bring it back,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. We'll bring it back. It will happen quickly.”

“We will prevent the murderers from coming here. The drug dealers, everyone who comes to California,” he said.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, California, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Trump recalled what California used to be, saying it was a “beacon of what our country wanted to become.”

“It had the weather, it had the water,” he said. “The state had the best schools, the safest communities and a booming middle class, but all of that has been eradicated by decades of the very policies that Kamala Harris now wants to impose on America.”

The Republican presidential candidate cited California's sky-high cost of living, ongoing crime crisis and ongoing illegal immigration crisis.

“Today, California has the highest inflation, the highest taxes, the highest gasoline prices, the highest cost of living, the most regulations, the most expensive utilities, the most homelessness, the most crime, the most dilapidation and the most illegal immigrants,” he said .

“Otherwise, I think you’re actually doing pretty well,” he joked.

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While acknowledging that the economy is a top priority in California and across the country, Trump highlighted illegal immigration as a top issue for voters and said the U.S. is considered an “occupied country.”

“But we are now known around the world as an occupied country,” he said. “We have people taking over parts of Colorado. We have people taking over other states, many states.”

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Trump promised to “ride our country of criminals” and “save California.”

“To everyone here in California and across the country, I make this promise. November 5, 2024 will be Liberation Day in America,” he said.

“We will rid our country of criminals. “I will save California in every city across America that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these evil and bloodthirsty criminals in prison or throw them the hell out of the country,” he said.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, California, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump referred to Eduardo Sarabia, an illegal immigrant who was recently arrested in Los Angeles after allegedly brutally raping two women in his windowless Ford Transit van.

“He was accused of sadistically raping two women in the back of a windowless van that police say was hideously outfitted like a rape dungeon on wheels,” Trump said. “The detective believes this monster had many more victims.”

Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, California, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Trump also referred to Victor Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who fled his country of origin after committing a heinous crime and allegedly murdering Maryland mother Rachel Morin.

“We had the strongest border in our country's history. Now we have the worst border in the history of the world,” he said.

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“My message to the American people is very simple,” Trump said. “No one who perpetrated the violence and terror that our harassment unleashed on our country should never be allowed to become president of the United States again.”

Trump promised that Harris' “reign of terror” would end on his first day in office.

“Anyone who orchestrates an invasion of America cannot lead America,” he said. “Kamala Harris, her reign of terror ends the day I take office.”

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Over time, an extremely valuable commodity for presidential campaigns in the final stretch of a White House showdown in a margin of error race HarrisMany are wondering why Trump is stopping in the blue states.

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The stop in Coachella could benefit Trump among Latino voters — who have trended toward the GOP in recent years — not just in southeastern California but, more importantly, in neighboring Arizona and Nevada, two of the seven crucial battleground states , which will likely determine whether the former president or Harris wins the 2024 election.

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Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.