Trump slams Biden, dismisses troop claims

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he could be "really vicious" towards opponent Joe Biden over an article that claimed the president called American soldiers losers.

Trump addressed his supporters at a rally in Minden, saying he has 25 witnesses "saying it never happened."

The Associated Press confirmed many of the comments Trump was reported by The Atlantic to have made disparaging fallen or captured US service members, such as his description of the American dead in a military graveyard as losers.

Blaming Biden for the reproduction of the report, Trump said, "he's a pathetic human being to let that happen."

Trump is defying local authorities by holding public events Saturday and Sunday after officials blocked his initial plans for rallies in Reno and Las Vegas because they would have violated coronavirus health guidelines.

It's the kind of fight that Trump's team relishes and underscores the growing importance of Nevada in Trump's quest for 270 electoral votes as the race against Democrat Joe Biden looks tight in a number of pivotal states.

Trump narrowly lost Nevada in 2016 to Hillary Clinton, and the state has trended further toward the Democrats in the past decade.

But Trump's campaign has invested heavily in the state, relying on its ground game to turn out voters.