Former President Donald Trump used anti-immigration rhetoric to court voters during a rally in Nevada just five days away from the election.

Trump told his supporters the United States is "an occupied country" and promised voters that November 5 would mark "liberation day" for the nation.

"Can you believe I have to say that, the United States, we're an occupied country," Trump said. 

"But it will soon be an occupied country no longer.

"November 5th, 2024, will be liberation day in America. Liberation day."

The Republican candidate also invoked the story of Nicholas Quets, a young US Marine Corps veteran who was recently killed in Mexico, allegedly by a Mexican cartel.

The victim's family was present at the rally, and Trump invited them on stage.

"This is a great family, a perfect family. And what happened to them should happen to nobody," he said.

Trump held his event in Henderson, Nevada, one of the seven battleground states along with Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

At a New Mexico rally earlier in the day, Trump told his supporters that his advisors told him he didn’t need to come to New Mexico because he wouldn’t be able to win the state.

But he asked for rally goers in Albuquerque to turnout the vote for him in the border state.

Donald Trump holds a photo of Marine veteran Nicholas Quets, who was allegedly killed in Mexico by cartel members, as his parents Warren and Patricia address a Nevada rally. – AP

New Mexico voters have twice rebuffed Trump at the polls, and Democrats hold every statewide elected position, all three congressional seats and majorities in the state House and Senate.

At the same time, federal and local authorities in New Mexico are dealing with a surge in migrant deaths along the US border with Mexico.

With both candidates in the southwest, they courted Hispanic voters.

Nationally, Trump had the support of 38 per cent of registered Hispanic voters in a series of Reuters/Ipsos polls conducted this month, up from 32 per cent at the same point in 2020.

Harris' share of Hispanic voters was at 50 per cent, compared with Democratic President Joe Biden's 54 per cent in October 2020.

Donald Trump at an Arizona event with Tucker Carlson. - Reuters

Trump later called his political opponents "stupid" and said "the country can only take so much".

During a campaign event in the state of Arizona - one of the seven battleground states along with Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan - with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump called Biden "stupid" and Harris "as dumb as a rock".

Trump also criticised former Representative Liz Cheney, calling the former Republican Wyoming congresswoman a “war hawk” and suggesting she might not be as willing to send troops to fight if she had guns pointed at her.

Trump called Cheney “a deranged person,” then added: “But the reason she couldn’t stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. If it were up to her we’d be in 50 different countries”.

"She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with the rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK, let’s see how she feels about it.

After reaction from the Harris campaign and other Trump critics, Trump’s campaign responded that he “was talking about how Liz Cheney wants to send America’s sons and daughters to fight in wars despite never being in a war herself”.

'She's a war hawk' - Donald Trump has criticised former Republican Representative Liz Cheney. - AP