MANCHESTER, N.H.—The event organizers called for problem-solving and civility, policy substance over sideshows.

But Donald Trump just couldn't help himself.

President Barack Obama "bombed" on a recent "60 Minutes" appearance. Other presidential candidates can't talk about polls because they're all doing "lousy." And when any of them criticize Trump, "I go after them and they drop out of the race."

That's all according to Trump, the Republican front-runner who rolled into the No Labels conference here on Monday and served up 40 minutes of cognitive dissonance. 

While other candidates and politicians noted their ability to collaborate, Trump trumpeted his ability to win a negotiation. Standing next to signs that read "stop fighting, start fixing," he jabbed at GOP rivals and bragged about poll numbers. And at a conference devoted to bipartisan bonhomie, he described himself as a "counterpuncher" who can't abide political correctness.

Attendees weren't impressed.

"In the spirit of problem-solving, I'm wondering if you're at all concerned that some of your divisive language you use on the campaign trail undermines your ability to solve problems," a questioner said, to raucous applause. 

"I went to Ivy League schools, I know what's divisive, I know what's not divisive," Trump replied. "I don't want to be politically correct all the way down the line. ... I see politicians, they're afraid to say anything because it's not politically correct."

It's a message that electrifies much of the conservative base, but it was way off-key before this bipartisan, moderate audience, which offered up increasingly tough questions as the event wore on, putting Trump on the defensive and highlighting his challenge with crowds filled with people not already in his corner, raising questions about his broader appeal.

"Maybe I'm wrong ... but I don't think you're a friend to women," another young woman said to applause. But before she could ask her question, Trump interrupted her, asserting "I respect women incredibly" and noting many work for him and he has provided opportunities for women. It was only after the crowd called him out that the woman was able to complete her question, which concerned equal pay for women and reproductive rights.

"My mother was one of the great people of the world, maybe the greatest ever, my mother," he said. "I respect women and I'm going to take care of them. Jeb Bush said he doesn't want to fund women's health issues, you read that, you saw it, and then he took it back, later."

He also criticized Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio by name for accepting money from big donors, suggesting that they are overly beholden to those contributors as he explained his decision to self-fund. And despite a record of criticizing Bush since the day Trump announced, the real-estate mogul insisted that he only "counter-punches,” saying that other candidates and former candidates, such as Lindsey Graham and Rick Perry, have been particularly "nasty" to him, justifying his attacks.

"I am going to have to be who I am," Trump said. "At the same time, I'm running against a lot of people, many are going to be dropping out, I think very soon, if they're smart, they're going to be dropping out. Too many people! Too many people. When it becomes a different kind of situation, you'll see, I'm going to be much less divisive. But always remember this: I never start anything ... I simply counterpunch. They start. They get very nasty."

He continued, "I don't think anybody in this room wants to have somebody who's not going to fight back. We have people now who don't fight back, the country has been hurt tremendously."

That message was at odds with the themes of the convention, which, Trump aside, played out like a pep rally for “problem-solving." A young man in green Spandex and a cape, dubbed the “problem-solver man,” darted around the convention center and posed a question to Martin O’Malley, another speaker at the event, about bipartisan restaurants in Washington. Blocs of young people and college students sat on bleachers, waving No Labels signs. And most of the other politicians who appeared were careful to stress their willingness to work across the aisle and make trade-offs to reach solutions. 

Early on in his address and in an encounter with reporters, Trump, too, discussed his experience with compromise, noting his work with unions and other New York City factions to get real-estate deals done.

"When I was a businessman, I got along with everybody," he told reporters ahead of the event. "I got along with Democrats, I got along with Hillary [Clinton], I got along with Bill, I got along with everybody. As a businessman, that's what you have to do, as a politician, that's what you have to do."

But pressed at the event about whether he really believed in political compromise, he said that we "need compromise, nothing wrong with compromise, but it's always good to compromise and win."

To the extent that Trump addressed policy, he largely aligned with the rest of his party on domestic issues, underscoring his support for defunding Planned Parenthood and noting how much he likes the tea party. On trade and foreign policy, however, he broke sharply.

He told reporters that Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist and Democratic candidate who was slated to speak later in the day, "knows we're being ripped off on trade and is the one politician that talks about it. ... I'm very, very strong about having great trading deals."

And onstage, he questioned why the United States has a military presence in places like Japan, Germany and South Korea if those countries "don't do anything for us."

He segued into that issue when a young man in a Harvard sweatshirt asked him to clarify comments he has previously made about South Korea.

"Are you from South Korea?" Trump asked the questioner, who appeared to be Asian-American.

"I was born in Texas, raised in Colorado," he replied. The crowd cheered for him. 

Graham, the South Carolina senator whom Trump jabbed onstage and dismissed to reporters as a candidate "registering at zero in the polls, he hit me two or three weeks ago because he wanted to get a little action for himself," was one of several other presidential candidates to speak at the event — and his appearance couldn't have gone more differently. 

The gathering was tailor-made for the long-shot presidential contender, who supports immigration reform and tackling climate change. It was co-hosted by former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, who was one of Graham's closest allies in the Senate. And Graham, with his wry sense of humor, was in his element as he addressed the crowd ahead of Trump and fielded questions about him from reporters after. 

"I think his attitude toward his critics is below the office of the president of the United States," Graham told reporters of Trump. "Some of his solutions are, quite frankly, gibberish. ... He's doing better than I am, so hats off to him, but the next president of the United States, if you can't bring us together and you don't have a plan to defend the nation, you're letting us all down."

As much as Trump's message was out of step with the convention, he still received celebrity treatment, facing dozens of cameras and hordes of attendees demanding selfies. But the loudest and most sustained applause of the event came after he left.

"Please," said a woman with a microphone, turning to the media in the audience. "Don't make today about Donald Trump."