TAMPA, Fla. -- Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused Donald Trump of insulting veterans and pressing dangerous military plans around the globe, seeking to undercut his appeal to military families in Southern voting battlegrounds.

Trump said Tuesday night that Clinton's handling of private emails disqualifies her to serve as president. His own temperament, Trump said, was his "single greatest asset" and not the national security danger that Clinton alleges.

Clinton, addressing supporters in Florida, warned that Trump would lead the nation back to war in the Middle East. And to military vets and their families, she pointed to his summertime dust-up with the Muslim parents of a slain American soldier.

"His whole campaign has been one long insult to all those who have worn the uniform," the Democratic nominee said at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Trump, trying to emphasize his military support, released a letter from 88 retired generals and admirals citing an urgent need for a "course correction" in the United States' national security policy. It was aimed at rebutting Clinton's arguments that she would be best positioned to lead the military and reassuring Republicans who have openly worried that his provocative statements might undermine U.S. alliances.

"We believe that such a change can only be made by someone who has not been deeply involved with, and substantially responsible for, the hollowing out of our military and the burgeoning threats facing our country around the world," the military leaders wrote. "For this reason, we support Donald Trump's candidacy to be our next commander in chief."

Trump promoted the letter as he campaigned in Virginia and North Carolina on Tuesday, suggesting that he would rely on the generals to make up for his own lack of national security experience and to help in taking on the Islamic State extremist group, also known as ISIS.

He vowed to give military leaders a "simple instruction" soon after taking office: "They will have 30 days to submit to the Oval Office a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS."

Clinton pushed back, saying Trump has lagged in securing key military supporters compared with past Republican nominees such as John McCain and Mitt Romney. She pointed to her endorsements from retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who criticized Trump at the Democratic National Convention, and former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell.

"They know they can count on me to be the kind of commander in chief who will protect our country and our troops, and they know they cannot count on Donald Trump," Clinton said en route to Florida. "They view him as a danger and a risk."

But, campaigning in Virginia Beach, Va., Trump vowed to take aggressive action to help veterans at home and confront threats abroad, including acts of terrorism from the Islamic State. He was questioned by retired Gen. Michael Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency who is a strong supporter of Trump's.

"We are going to solve the ISIS problem," Trump said. "But we have to get back to building our country, because our country is going to hell."

Trump promised to fix problems at the Veterans Administration, which has grappled with patient care mismanagement during President Barack Obama's administration. Until those problems are resolved, he said, he would allow veterans to seek treatment at private doctors or hospitals free of charge.

"Your government is going to pay your bill," he pledged.

Trump also criticized Clinton's ability to negotiate with world leaders.

"You know, Hillary likes to play tough with Russia. Putin looks at her and he laughs. OK? He laughs. Putin looks at Hillary Clinton and he smiles. Boy, would he like to see her," Trump said. "That would be easy, because look at her decisions."

At the rally in Tampa, Clinton continued knocking Trump's national security credentials and touted her own experience as secretary of state and as a U.S. senator representing New York.

She said Trump often has "no clue" what he's talking about on military issues and pointed to statements he has made about fighting the Islamic State that Clinton said "have been all over the map."

"He says he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but the secret is he has no plan," Clinton told a crowd estimated at 1,500 at the University of South Florida.

Donation questioned

Clinton also called on Trump to reveal details about his communication with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican, to whom Trump made a $25,000 political contribution in 2013 as Bondi was considering investigating claims against Trump University, a for-profit education business. Critics say the donation crossed ethical lines.

"Of course, as we know, there was a phone conversation between them. They contradict each other. The American people deserve to know what was said, because clearly the attorney general did not proceed with the investigation," Clinton told reporters Tuesday during a question-and-answer session on her campaign plane.

"The list goes on and on: the scams, the frauds, the questionable relationships, the business activities that have stiffed workers," Clinton said later as she renewed her call for Trump to release his tax returns to "come clean."

Trump told reporters Monday that he had not engaged in quid pro quo.

The donation was made to a pro-Bondi political organization days after her office disclosed that it was looking into the for-profit education business. Bondi ultimately decided not to open an investigation, prompting scrutiny from critics and local media at the time. The contribution also violated restrictions preventing charities from making political contributions to candidates.

The Trump foundation recently paid a $2,500 penalty for failing to disclose the political donation to the Internal Revenue Service.

Trump lobbed attacks of his own. In an interview with ABC that aired Tuesday, Trump scrutinized Clinton's appearance: "Well, I just don't think she has a presidential look, and you need a presidential look," he told ABC's David Muir.

During a speech Tuesday evening in Greenville, N.C., Trump returned again to foreign affairs, accusing the Clinton Foundation of failing to live up to promises it made to help redevelop Haiti after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country.

"While Haiti has suffered, the Clintons and their pals have cashed in. Bill and Hillary's brothers have signed housing deals in Haiti, and one wound up on the board of a gold-mining company," Trump said. "Clinton Foundation donors have seen the Clintons pave the way for their investments."

The former secretary of state's brother, Tony Rodham, was involved with a gold mine in Haiti. Rodham was introduced to the chief executive of the VCS Mining company at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting, he said in an interview last year. Rodham said at the time that he does not attend the initiative's meetings to pursue personal business.

The personal barbs came ahead of a forum today in New York at which Clinton and Trump are scheduled to appear back to back on MSNBC and NBC to discuss issues that will confront the country's leader. The forum is seen as a warm-up to their first presidential debate, set for Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in New York.

Voters focus on issues

With the start of the intensified, two-month sprint to Election Day, Clinton and Trump expanded their availability to the news media as they zeroed in on the states and groups of voters they need to claim victory Nov. 8.

Although Labor Day no longer marks the start of the general election season -- the timetable has made a yearslong shift toward a yearslong campaign -- the unofficial end of summer remains a transition point as U.S. voters send their children back to school, return to work and refocus their attention on issues.

"People get back from vacation, they start paying more attention," said Marlon Marshall, Clinton's director of state campaigns and political engagement. "That's when folks start really tuning in and think, 'What decision am I going to make for this race?'"

Trump's senior communications strategist, Jason Miller, meanwhile, said the Republican nominee is "very focused, very driven, and he's feeling it. He sees the benefit of what's working and the positive response that voters are giving him."

Trump was preparing to roll out "women's coalitions," lists of female supporters in battleground states, aides said.

Three female surrogates for Trump are taking on bigger roles: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, will work on communications targeted at faith leaders, gun-rights supporters, military groups and other voter coalitions. Omarosa Manigault, who met Trump when she was a contestant on his Apprentice reality TV show, will step up outreach to black media outlets. And A.J. Delgado, a lawyer and conservative commentator with Cuban roots, will push for coverage in Spanish media outlets.

In her own bid to mobilize female voters, Clinton's campaign is hosting dozens of voter registration events, roundtables and phone banks across the country in the next week.

Among the surrogates participating in the week of "Women Together" activities is Chelsea Clinton, who will return to the campaign trail after the birth of her second child with two days of events in Carlisle and Scranton, Pa., today and Thursday.

Anne Holton, Kaine's wife, will hold a roundtable event in Dallas focused on women, children and families. Holton also will attend a "women-to-women" phone bank today in Phoenix.

"Women have been a driving force behind this campaign since day one, and we are so grateful for the support and tremendous contributions they have made to this historic campaign," said Mini Timmaraju, the campaign's women's vote director. "This week, a diverse coalition of women across the country will come together for a week of action to encourage women in their communities to register and commit to vote and join us in working to ensure that Hillary Clinton is elected our next president."

Also participating in events for Clinton will be Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng; Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards; NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue; and Sex in the City actress Kristin Davis.

After spending several weeks concentrating on fundraising, Clinton is heading into full campaign mode. She'll be in Florida and North Carolina later in the week and plans to address the National Baptist Convention on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo. Trump is set to campaign in the swing states of North Carolina and Florida later this week.

Information for this article was contributed by Ken Thomas, Steve Peoples and Kathleen Ronayne of The Associated Press; by Margaret Talev, Jennifer Jacobs, Kevin Cirilli and Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg News; and by John Wagner, Jose A. DelReal and Abby Phillip of The Washington Post.

A Section on 09/07/2016