EDINBURG, Texas (AP) Donald Trump picked up the Texas governors endorsement Sunday during a visit to a U.S.-Mexico border town and promised that his hard-line immigration policies in a second presidential term would make Greg Abbotts job much easier.

Youll be able to focus on other things in Texas, Trump told Abbott as they each appeared before a crowd of about 150 at an airport hangar in Edinburg.

Abbott, a longtime ally and fellow border hawk, said he was proud to endorse the former president, who is the Republican Party s front-runner for the 2024 nomination.

We need a president whos going to secure the border, Abbott said, speaking in a town that is about 30 miles from the Hidalgo Port of Entry crossing with Mexico. We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America.

Earlier, Trump served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving. Trump and Abbott handed out tacos, and the former president shook hands and posed for pictures.

What you do is incredible, and you want it to be done right, Trump told them.

Abbott said about the Guard members and Texas troopers who are stationed at the border: They should not be here at this time. They should be at home. He said that the only reason why they are here is because we have a president of the United States of America who is not securing our border.

Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges. Though Trump has peppered campaign speeches with his immigration plans, he only made brief remarks in border country on Sunday. He spoke for only about 10 minutes against a backdrop of state police choppers, a plane and an armed patrol boat all used by Texas at the border.

Trump did not get into the policies he would pursue if elected. He did complain about inflation, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and news media coverage. He said most technology outside of wheels and walls eventually becomes obsolete.

We just need the walls. And it worked, Trump said.