'I'm financially brave!' Trump praises Medal of Honor recipients on stage before military policy speech as he admits he couldn't take the 'tough cookies' in a fight 

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Donald Trump wowed more than 17,500 North Carolinians on Thursday night with a speech heavy on military policy – and did it under the watchful eye of nearly a dozen admirals and generals, and seven Medal of Honor recipients.

As Trump set his Pentagon pledges in stone, he couldn't help peppering his speech with one-liners while the decorated heroes sat behind him on stage.

Calling the more than 200 military flag officers who have endorsed him 'amazing people' and 'tough cookies,' the Republican presidential nominee laughed about sizing one of them up after his Secret Service motorcade arrived.

'I saw somebody backstage. Big, strong, powerful,' he told his screaming crowd.

'I said to the guys, "You think I could take this guy in a fight? You think I could take him?" They all said no. I said "I agree".'

'UNDER THE FAILED LEADERSHIP OF HILLARY CLINTON ...' Donald Trump rallied 17,500 North Carolinians on Thursday night, bashing his Democratic rival and boasting his own national security bona fides

MILITARY CATHEDRAL: Flanked by Medal of Honor recipients and retired generals and admirals, the Republican presidential nominee made his case to be commander-in-chief

And as he introduced the recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor in battle, he found his own Trumpian way of praising them.

'Oh, they're so much more brave than me. I wouldn't have done what they did,' Trump said. 'I'm brave in other ways.'

'I'm brave – I'm financially brave. Big deal. These are real brave men.'

The Trump campaign released a statement from 22 living recipients of the medal including the seven who stood with him Thursday, saying they 'will be voting for Donald Trump and we encourage you to do the same. And our enemies will hate us for it.'

'Our nation is blessed with the promise of freedom and the glory of liberty. And our enemies hate us for it,' the statement began.

'The street corners in any American city might be lined with churches and temples and mosques. And our enemies hate us for it.

'Men and women of any race, color or creed can enjoy the fruits of their labors under American laws. And our enemies hate us for it.

BRAVE, ALMOST: Trump said the decorated soldiers were brave, but he was merely 'financially brave'

'TOUGH COOKIES': Trump said he admitted backstage that he couldn't take any of the soldier-heroes in a fight

'The time is upon us to remind the enemies of freedom that the United States of America is the shining city on the hill and that we will never surrender it.'

Trump, they said, would 'restore our military readiness while modernizing our national defense capabilities,' and also 'develop and employ a plan to destroy ISIS and defeat radical Islamist terrorism.'

Hillary Clinton, his liberal rival, earned their scorn.

'We cannot continue, nor can our freedoms afford, the feckless foreign policies and defense strategies promised by the Democratic nominee,' the war heroes said.

'The philosophy of retreat, apology, and weakness has already jeopardized the safety and freedom of every American, stressed the readiness of our Armed Forces and allowed our nation's enemies to advance.'

Trump's speech was heavy on policy specifics, including vows to better equip America's servicemen and women, cancel the congressional 'sequester' that has trimmed the Pentagon's budget, and 'only engage the use of military forces when it's vital to the national security ... of the United States.

No more nation-building or regime-toppling, he promised, but instead an emphasis on 'keeping America safe and on destroying ISIS and defeating radical Islamic terrorism.'

Trump drew on those three words – 'radical Islamic terrorism' – as he has hundreds of times before to separate his swashbuckling style from the more politically correct vocabulary of Clinton and President Barack Obama.

After a half-minute of gesticulating, he let a pregnant pause hang in the air.

And then, slow and measured, he delivered the kill shot.

'Anyone who cannot name the enemy cannot lead the country,' Trump declared.

SEA OF PEOPLE: The Johnston County, North Carolina sheriff said after Thursday night's rally that 17,500 people attended

'USA! USA!' Trump raucous crowd shouted, cheered, clapped – and booed when Trump talked about Hillary Clinton or the national news media that he calls 'dishonest'

He also reiterated his goal of wresting money away from allies in NATO and elsewhere who don't 'pay their fair share of our military burden' that protects them.

'Nobody's ever brought that up, right?' he asked, before guaranteeing that 'our allies will' pay up, 'but somebody has to ask them. I'll ask them. They will.'

Trump said Hillary Clinton would not be a respected commander-in-chief.

He gestured to the military brass on stage, paused, and shook his head.

'To think of her being their boss? I don't think so!' Trump boomed.

'And you know, they're incredible patriots who would never say a thing, but I know what they're thinking.'

Trump also clobbered Clinton on the deadly dividends from her State Department's failed mission in the Libyan port city of Benghazi, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans perished in a bloody terror attack four years ago.

'A Trump administration will honor that sacred pledge to leave no man or woman behind,' he said, charging that she abandoned them instead of sending help.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll in the state of North Carolina has Clinton leading Trump by just a 47-44 margin.

'I DON'T THINK SO': Trump said he can't imagine Hillary Clinton as commander-in-chief in charge of the retired warriors on stage with him. Clinton appeared with singed Pharrell Williams at her own rally less than an hour's drive away in Raleigh

The importance of the battleground was made plain Thursday night as Clinton's campaign aircraft landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport just before sundown. She was there to attend her own evening rally in Raleigh.

Minutes later Trump's Boeing 757 landed on a nearby runway, chasing the 737 carrying his traveling press corps.

The crowd in sleepy Selma, North Carolina was reminiscent of film reels showing the Woodstock rock festival, only with chewing tobacco instead of hallucinogens.

Trump surveyed the masses and imagined a victory on Nov. 8, raising his eyebrows in the direction of Generals Keith Kellogg and Michael Flynn on stage.

'Boy, this is a big crowd! Man!' he yelled. 'Look at how far ... Gen. Flynn is even impressed. He's never impressed.'