2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accepts his party's nomination on the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on on July 18.PEDRO UGARTE/Getty Images
A triumphant Donald Trump, in his first major public address since an attempt on his life, formally accepted the GOP nomination for president on Thursday as the party coalesced around him at the Republican National Convention.
On the closing night of the convention in Milwaukee, Wis., the former president said he is bringing a message of “confidence, strength and hope,” and promised the “four greatest years in the history of our country.”
Mr. Trump’s speech, the convention’s final act, capped a week in which the Republican Party used its marquee political event to present a softened image of the former president, who observed the proceedings from a VIP box each night. He wore a square bandage on his ear to cover the wound he sustained during Saturday’s shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Thursday’s address was a key opportunity for Mr. Trump to reset the tone in a presidential race that in recent weeks has been thrown into turmoil, but he quickly reverted to the partisan lines of attack familiar from his rallies and social media posts.
“I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” Mr. Trump said at the beginning of his speech, before transitioning into a lengthy list of grievances against his Democratic opponents, the criminal cases against him, illegal immigration and other favourite targets.
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His wife, Melania, and eldest daughter, Ivanka, watched from the VIP box, in their only appearance of the week. At the side of the stage, the work gear of Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old firefighter who died in the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life on Saturday, was displayed.
As Mr. Trump cemented his grip on the Republican Party, his rival President Joe Biden faced a far different reality. Mr. Biden has been under increasing pressure from within his own Democratic Party to abandon his re-election bid over concerns about his mental fitness.
On Thursday, that pressure intensified. U.S. media reported that former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the party’s most senior figures, was privately urging Mr. Biden to step down, joining an expanding list of Democrats who have done so publicly. Former president Barack Obama had also reportedly expressed concerns to allies about Mr. Biden’s candidacy. Mr. Biden left the campaign trail Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Dire polling has convinced some Democrats that Mr. Biden can’t win against Mr. Trump in November. According to an AP-NORC poll released on Wednesday, nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationally say the President should allow his party to nominate another candidate.
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Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has enjoyed a week of on-stage adulation from former foes, including ex-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who opposed him in the Republican primaries. During a speech to the convention on Tuesday, Ms. Haley said Mr. Trump “has my strong endorsement, period.”
Another of Mr. Trump’s former critics, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, formally accepted his post as Mr. Trump’s running mate at the convention on Wednesday evening. In a speech from the convention stage, Mr. Vance lavished praise on Mr. Trump while making an impassioned appeal to working-class voters.
The Republican nomination Mr. Trump formally accepted on Thursday evening is his third in a row. Although he faced competition in the party’s primaries, notably from Ms. Haley and from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, he easily won over primary voters and re-established himself at the party’s head.
In Thursday’s speech, Mr. Trump recounted the shooting, saying he would only tell the story once, because it’s “actually too painful to tell.”
He had just turned his head to look at a chart on border crossings when he heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit his right ear, he said. He put his hand to his ear and saw it covered in blood, and realized he was under attack, he told the crowd. At that point, U.S. Secret Service agents rushed the stage.
“They pounced on top of me so I would be protected,” he said. “There was blood pouring everywhere, yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side.”
Mr. Trump said he saw the looks of confusion on the faces of rally attendees, who might have thought he was dead, and wanted to do something to let them know he was okay.
“I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!” he said.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during the final night of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press
Partway into his remarks, which continued for more than 90 minutes, Mr. Trump’s tone shifted. He began speaking about other countries “plundering” the U.S., “the China virus,” and the worst “illegal immigration invasion” the world has ever seen.
“They are coming in from every corner of the earth, not just from South America, but from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, they’re coming from everywhere,” he said.
“They’re coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails, they’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums. Has anyone seen Silence of the Lambs?”
The convention’s final night included remarks from a varied list of speakers, among them evangelical leader Franklin Graham, the retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White. There was also a performance from the musician Kid Rock.
Rev. Graham called Mr. Trump a man of his word. In 2016, the former president told him, and the country, that he would appoint conservative justices, the reverend said. “And guess what? He did.”
Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, ripped off a black, sleeveless shirt bearing his own image to reveal a red one underneath emblazoned with the Trump-Vance logo, to cheers. Taking a more serious tone, Mr. Bollea said he said he tends to stay out of politics but could no longer stay silent “after everything that’s happened to our country over the past four years.”
About 50,000 people gathered at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum for the convention, which began Monday. Over the course of the week, they took in speeches from legislators, Trump family members, the families of slain soldiers, the model Amber Rose, Republican voters and Fox News personalities.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Trump said he had scrapped a “humdinger” of a speech he had prepared that was targeted mostly at Mr. Biden, telling the Washington Examiner that he would opt for one focusing on unity instead.
In the crowd, some supporters wore square bandages over their right ears in support of the former president. A house band played Americana rock music between speakers, and the entire Texas delegation stood and waved their beige cowboy hats in unison to each song.
Outside the arena, vendors hawked Trump T-shirts, Trump cereal and red Trump hats with orange hair attached. A small number of protesters were shouted down by Trump supporters. One man carried a poster bearing the image of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the Trump rally shooter, hailing him as “an American hero.”
There was a heavy security presence during the convention, with officers from law enforcement agencies across the country patrolling on horses, motorcycles, bicycles, boats and foot as a helicopter circled overhead.
With reports from Shannon Proudfoot and The Associated Press