With a bandage strapped over one ear, Donald Trump made a triumphant return to the public eye on Monday evening at the Republican National Convention, receiving a rapturous welcome from thousands of supporters two days after an attempt on his life.
The former president entered the convention arena in Milwaukee with a fist raised and to the strains of a live performance of “God Bless the USA”.
He then slowly walked through cheering crowds of delegates – some with tears in their eyes – before greeting key political allies and members of his family, including three of his children, but not his wife Melania.
At moments, the audience pumped their fists and called out “Fight! Fight! Fight!” – echoing Trump’s cry after a bullet grazed his ear at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The Republican nominee for November’s presidential contest is riding a wave of political momentum. The Democratic Party has been questioning 81-year-old Joe Biden’s candidacy following a poor debate performance last month, while Trump’s team has celebrated recent legal victories.
At the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, the former president listened to about an hour of speeches while sitting next to his running mate and vice-presidential candidate Ohio Senator JD Vance, whose place on the ticket for November’s election was announced only hours before.
Trump did not make a speech but at times appeared moved by the crowd of thousands. He bowed his head in prayer, and mouthed several times: “Thank you, everybody”.
Supporters and Republican delegates, some with tears in their eyes, had been waiting for hours for the former president’s appearance, which was not officially listed on the schedule for the opening day of the convention, but was widely expected.
Among Monday’s range of other speakers were the head of the Teamsters labour union Sean O’Brien, who said he was not endorsing any specific party but praised Trump as being “tough” and willing to hear critical voices.
The conference also heard from an ex-Trump critic, the model and rapper Amber Rose, who described her political journey towards the ex-president. She added: “Trump supporters don’t care if you’re black, white, gay or straight – it’s all love.”
Eventful first day
Donald Trump’s appearance was the highlight of an eventful first day of the Republican gathering in Wisconsin, one of six battleground states that will decide the election.
Before the convention officially opened, news broke that a federal judge had dismissed criminal charges against Trump for stashing more than 300 classified documents at his Florida resort after his first term in office.
Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled that special prosecutor Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed to his role and did not have the authority to bring a 37-count indictment against the former president.
It was another victory for the Republican candidate, who now faces no prospect of another criminal trial before Americans go to the polls on 5 November.
Soon after the convention opened, nearly 2,500 Republican delegates formally nominated Trump as their presidential candidate during a roll call vote.
In a break with recent tradition, Trump waited until the convention to announce Mr Vance as his vice-presidential pick, and revealed his choice on his Truth Social network on Monday afternoon.
The Ohio senator and author of best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy reportedly heard he was selected just minutes before the announcement.
He smiled and looked slightly in awe as he walked into the crowd along with his wife Usha, and chatted with the throngs of delegates who surrounded him.
“Of the three [contenders] on the shortlist, I don’t think you could have done better,” said Greg Simpson, a Republican delegate who lives not far from Vance’s childhood home in Middletown, Ohio.
But Democrats indicated they would make an issue of Mr Vance’s anti-abortion views and connections to big tech during his career as a venture capitalist.
Democratic President Joe Biden said in a message posted on X that Mr Vance “talks a big game about working people” but would raise taxes on ordinary Americans while cutting taxes on the rich.
Speaking to reporters he called Mr Vance “a clone of Trump”.
The president also sat for an interview with NBC News, saying it was a mistake to have said it’s “time to put Trump in the bullseye” during a call with donors days before his political rival was nearly killed.
But he blamed his opponent for ratcheting up political rhetoric for his denials of the 2020 election result, promises to pardon the rioters who attacked the Capitol on 6 January 2021 and for joking about a serious assault on the husband of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
As Trump remains in Milwaukee and prepares to deliver his closing night convention speech on Thursday night, Mr Biden has resumed his election campaign, flying to Las Vegas for events after a brief pause in rallies following the attack.
The first day of the convention was filled with speeches from Republican officials and ordinary supporters selected to bolster the day’s theme, the economy.
Bobby Bartels, a union leader from New York, told the crowd: “Out of control inflation is squeezing budgets and both violent crime and drug epidemics are pushing people out of our cities, all while Democrats do nothing.”
“That’s why this union Democrat will be voting Trump,” he said.
But the assassination attempt was still fresh in the minds of delegates who had assembled from across the US and its territories.
“Saturday scared me,” said Florida delegate Joe Mullins said. “We’d be in a whole different world if not for half an inch. I had tears in my eyes, and I haven’t cried like that since I lost my mother.”
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who was one of the names on Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist, told the crowd: “If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing right now.”
“On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania with a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared,” he said.