(Trump: REUTERS/Rick Wilking. Background: AP Photo/Anatoly Maltsev)
What Donald Trump may have looked like if he went back in time and visited Russia's Ekaterininsky Palace ballroom floor in 1997. [Business Insider composite]
"Look at those beautiful hats," Trump said of caps his supporters were wearing at the event in Urbandale, Iowa.
Trump then mentioned a New York Times story from last year reporting that his "Make America Great Again" hats had become an "ironic summer accessory."
"The hats have become so hot that The New York Times did a story: It's one of the hottest accessories for women. Do you believe it? They go to fancy balls wearing the hat," Trump said.
He also pointed at various people in his audience wearing authentic and inauthentic Trump hats.
"Hottest thing. There's a man. That's a real one. That's one made in the USA. I know the difference," he said. "Those aren't made in the USA. They're not mine, [but] they have the right slogan."