RNC 2024 live updates: Trump becomes Republican nominee; vivid speech recalls 'blood' during assassination attempt

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison blasted Trump, Sen. JD Vance and the Republican Party in a statement released after the RNC concluded.

"Over the past four days, we’ve seen speakers endorse a far-right, dangerous vision that would see Americans’ basic liberties stripped away and replace the rule of law with the rule of Trump. No amount of desperate spin can change how unpopular and out of touch their disastrous plans are for the American people," Harrison said.

"The more voters learn about the Trump-Vance ticket — the most extreme running mates in modern American history — the more fired up they are to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris this November.”

The big question heading into the closing night of the convention was whether the Trump who took the stage in Milwaukee would be any different than the Trump who took the stage in Butler, Pa., five days earlier. Or at the very least, whether he would sound any different.

Read Yahoo News National Correspondent Andrew Romano's takeaways from Trump's speech and the last day of the RNC here.

Trump's convention speech, which clocked in at 93 minutes, concluded with hundreds of red, white, blue and gold balloons falling from the ceiling.

In the background, opera singer Christopher Macchio sang "Nessun Dorma," an aria from a Puccini opera, before transitioning to a rendition of "America the Beautiful" as the rest of Trump's family joined him on stage.

Trump accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination shortly after midnight Eastern Time, wrapping a speech that lasted more than 90 minutes.

The four-day Republican National Convention convention is preparing to come to a close.

In a discussion of international affairs, Trump praised the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán.

"Hungary, strong country, run by a very powerful, tough leader. Tough guy. Press doesn't like him 'cause he's tough," Trump told the crowd.

Orbán has held the position since 2010 and has dealt with international controversy over some of his political views, which include his promotion of the white nationalist "great replacement" conspiracy theory, implementation of anti-LGBTQ laws and a 2022 speech that was described as "pure Nazi."

Last week, Trump met with Orbán for the second time in six months. Trump's visit was less than two weeks after Orbán traveled to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin and then to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping.

After speaking for more than 90 minutes on Thursday, Trump mentioned President Biden by name only once, even though he repeatedly took issue with the policies of “this administration.”

He refrained from mentioning Vice President Kamala Harris altogether.

With many Democrats pressuring Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race following a much-criticized debate performance, Harris has been viewed as the likely frontrunner to replace him as the party’s nominee.

As that fluid situation played out this week, and Biden was diagnosed with COVID, some speakers at the convention saw fit to attack Harris in their speeches.

“Let me remind you. Kamala had one job, one job. And that was to fix the border. Now imagine her in charge of the entire country,” former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in her speech to the convention on Tuesday.

In his speech on Thursday night, Trump repeated one of his frequently made claims that foreign governments are emptying their prisons and mental institutions and sending those people to the United States.

“They’re coming from prisons. They’re coming from jails. They’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums,” Trump said, adding, “We become a dumping ground for the rest of the world.”

Multiple news organizations have investigated the claim that the Biden administration has been flying people in from other countries and have determined that there is no evidence for it.

In his RNC speech, Trump, while speaking about the southern U.S. border, said his administration had built "most of the wall" he promised to build. During Trump's 2016 campaign, he said his administration would build a wall at least 1,000 miles long across the southern border and he would have Mexico pay for it.

"The wall — we were dealing with a really difficult Congress," Trump said. "I call it an invasion. We give our military almost $800 billion — I said, 'I'm gonna take a little bit of that money 'cause this is an invasion.' And we built — most of the wall was already built, and we built it through using the funds because what's better than that? We have to stop the invasion."

The New York Times reported that, in reality, the Trump administration built about 458 miles of border wall, a lot of which was either replacing or maintaining the already existing wall. Trump officials only put up 47 miles worth of new barriers.

Former President Donald Trump delivered his keynote address at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, formally accepting the GOP's nomination just five days after surviving an assassination attempt on the campaign trail.

Here are some photos of his historic appearance on the convention's final night.

The Associated Press reported on Trump's plan:

“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one,” Trump said in reference to a rule issued by the Biden administration that would make a majority of new passenger cars sold in the U.S. either all-electric or hybrids by 2032 in an effort to fight climate change.

In a meeting last month with the country’s top oil executives, Trump floated a deal. In return for $1 billion of campaign support from the companies, Trump pledged to kill Biden’s environmental restrictions, the pursuit of wind power, and the incentives for electric vehicles, the Washington Post reported.

As president, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, expanded offshore oil drilling and allowed drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and called climate change a hoax by the Chinese government intended to weaken the U.S. economy.

Despite earlier reports that suggested Trump did not plan on mentioning President Biden by name at any point during his RNC speech, Trump said Biden's name on two occasions.

"If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States — think of it, the 10 worst, added them up — they will not have done the damage that Biden has done," Trump said. "I'm only going to use the term once. Biden. I'm not going to use the name anymore. The damage that he's done to this country is unthinkable."

Trump made an almost verbatim comment about Biden during a campaign stop in October 2023.

Former first lady Melania Trump traveled to Milwaukee for her husband's keynote speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night. And when the former president praised her in his remarks, she received a standing ovation.

"On this journey I am deeply honored to be joined by my amazing wife, Melania," Trump said, triggering an adoring response.

Melania Trump, who was seated next to JD Vance in the VIP box, smiled and waved to the crowd.

Trump attacked President Biden in Thursday’s speech, depicting him as a threat to global safety.

“There’s an international crisis the likes of which no one has ever seen,” Trump said. Nobody can believe what’s happening. War is now raging in Europe and the Middle East.”

“Our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III,” Trump said, adding, “This administration can’t come close to solving the problems.”

"I say it often," Trump continued. "If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst, added them up, you will not have done the damage that Biden has done."

Over the course of the Republican National Convention, four basic lines of attack against Biden’s policies have been repeated by the speakers: that Biden is responsible for the inflation caused primarily by the coronavirus pandemic; that Biden’s reversal of Trump’s hard-line measures to curb immigration resulted in a record number of undocumented immigrants that wars broke out in Israel and Ukraine because Biden was not as feared as Trump by our adversaries and that Biden is to blame for the hasty withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that left 13 soldiers dead.

The convention speakers have also been critical of Biden because of his age, speaking gaffes and what they see as an overall decline of cognitive ability.

“Even in his prime he had bad judgment,” former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York said Wednesday regarding Biden’s advice to former President Barack Obama not to order the military raid in Pakistan that killed terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden, “and it’s only gotten worse with age. We can’t rely on Biden to make this kind of crucial 3 a.m. decision. Heck, we can’t rely on him at 3 in the afternoon.”

“When I was President Trump’s White House press secretary, I got the chance to take my 4-year-old son up to ‘Bring Your Kid to Work Day,’” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday. “Much like Jill now drags Joe to ‘Bring Your Husband to Work Day.'"

Trump devoted a segment of his keynote speech on Thursday night to the victims of the shooting at his rally, especially Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old former Buffalo Township fire chief.

"Tragically, the shooter claimed the life of one of our fellow Americans. Corey Comperatore, unbelievable person, everyone tells me. Unbelievable. And seriously wounded two other great warriors, spoke to them today: David Dutch and James Copenhaver," he said.

"Two great people. I also spoke to all three families of these tremendous people. Our love and prayers are with them and always will be. We're never going to forget them. They came for a great rally," he said. "They were serious Trumpsters, I want to tell you."

Trump went on to call Comperatore "a highly respected former fire chief" who shielded his family during the attack. "What a fine man he was."

"Corey! Corey! Corey!" the audience chanted.

Trump went over and kissed the firefighter's helmet on stage that he said was provided by the fire department and the victim's family.

A key objective of the Republican National Convention was to further humanize Trump for voters. On Thursday, the former president did so by recounting the shooting on Saturday at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” said Trump, who was injured in the shooting.

The audience responded with a chant of “Yes you are! Yes you are!”

In a moving display, Trump kissed the fire helmet of Corey Comperatore, 50, who was killed when gunfire erupted at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally and led the crowd in a moment of silence for the former firefighter.

Over the past year, Trump has been found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, and was later, in a second defamation lawsuit, ordered to pay her $83.3 million. A New York judge ruled that he had violated his business assets in violation of New York law and ordered him to pay $355 million in fines plus interest. A New York jury found him guilty in a criminal trial of falsification of business records stemming from his $130,000 hush money payment to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels from sharing her story about an alleged extramarital affair.

None of those uncomfortable facts were mentioned during the convention. Instead, three women were tasked with offering an alternative version of Trump’s character.

“When the president hired me, I was the first mom and the third woman ever to serve as White House press secretary,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in her speech on Tuesday. After detailing the attacks she endured from critics, Sanders added, “It was President Trump who defended me.”

“When I look at Donald Trump, I see a wonderful father, father-in-law and, of course, grandfather to my two young children, Luke and Carolina,” Lara Trump, Trump’s daughter-in-law, said in a speech delivered onTuesday.

“He calls me in the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going and tells me all about his. But then I have to remind him that I’m in school and I have to call him back later,” Kai Trump, Trump’s granddaughter, said in her speech on Wednesday.

Trump delivered his keynote address at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, formally accepting the GOP's nomination just five days after surviving an assassination attempt on the campaign trail.

“As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life. So many people have asked me what happened," Trump said. "And therefore, I’ll tell you what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell.”

The former president then recalled the shooting at the rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.

"I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard," he said. "I said to myself, 'Wow, what was that?' It could only be a bullet, and moved my hand to my right ear and brought it down. My hand was covered with blood.

"I immediately knew it was very serious," he said. "We were under attack."

As he spoke, images of Trump bleeding on the floor of the rally stage were displayed on screens behind him.

"There was blood pouring everywhere," Trump added. "And yet in a certain way I felt safe because I had God on my side.

In his opening remarks of a speech in which he accepted the Republican presidential nomination, Trump struck a tone of unity.

“Together we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. The discord and division in our society must be healed and we must heal it quickly," Trump said.

That message was expected. In an interview with the New York Post the day after being shot at his Pennsylvania campaign rally, Trump said he “threw away” the speech he had first prepared to deliver at the RNC and wrote a new one.

“I want to try to unite our country,” he told the paper.

In speeches delivered earlier in the week by his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., a similar pattern emerged in which the former president’s relatives spent much of their remarks attempting to humanize him. But the convention has also heard its share of harsh criticism for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on topics like inflation and a surge in the number of undocumented immigrants crossing the outhern U.S. border.

Videos of Trump taken prior to Saturday’s shooting have played on multiple nights and have featured him making fun of Biden’s age and have portrayed Democrats as incompetent and dishonest.

Trump came out for his RNC speech — his first time speaking on stage since his assassination attempt last weekend. Lee Greenwood sang "God Bless the U.S.A.," a regular song on the Trump campaign trail, as the stage backdrop flashed the name "TRUMP" in neon lights.

Just prior to his walk to the podium, a White House backdrop was projected behind him.

Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, introduced Trump's keynote address Thursday night.

White introduced him as a longtime friend, "a man who truly cares about people."

"I've been friends with this guy since 25 years," he said.

White and Trump have been friends since 2001 at least, when Trump's Atlantic City property hosted UFC and other MMA events, boosting the then struggling sport, BBC News reported. Trump has continued to attend White's events, including four in the past year, "often making fighter-style entrances with background music and an entourage."

"I'm in the tough guy business," White said in his speech. "And this man is the toughest, most resilient human being that I have ever met in my life. The higher the stakes, the harder he fights. And this guy never, ever gives up."

He added: "President Trump is literally putting his life on the line for something bigger than himself."

Donald Trump's family was out in full support of him as he prepared to accept the Republican nomination on the fourth night of the RNC.

Singer Kid Rock came out hot to the RNC stage — decked out in his signature sunglasses and fedora — and kicked off his set by asking the crowd, "What up, America?"

He then did a call-and-response, telling the crowd to raise their fists and shout "Fight, fight, fight!" — which is what Trump said after he was shot at the Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

Trump's second son, Eric Trump, kicked off his speech reflecting on why his father decided to run for president in the first place in 2016.

"He decided to leave behind the comforts of an unbelievable business empire — to leave behind everything he had ever built — to answer the call to serve our nation," the 40-year-old said. "Unlike his predecessor, it was not a decision born out of necessity."

Eric expressed anger about the recent investigations into Trump, claiming that he has been "ruthlessly silenced, slandered and attacked by a corrupt administration."

While discussing the assassination attempt against his father on Saturday, Eric cheered, "You wiped the blood off your face and you put your fist in the air in a moment that will be remembered as one of the most courageous acts in the history of American politics, you shouted, 'Fight, fight, fight!'" The crowd then jumped to its feet, pumping the air, chanting, "Fight, fight, fight!"

The camera at one point pann to Vivek Ramaswamy, who Eric recently mentioned in a podcast interview saying, "I would love to see my man right here as my running mate in 2032."

Eric's wife, Lara Trump, is the co-chair of the Republican National Committee and gave the keynote address Tuesday night. One of Eric and Lara's children, 4-year-old Carolina, climbed into Trump's lap for the speech.

Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, was introduced Thursday at the Republican National Convention. Dressed in red, she entered to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, waved to the audience and took a seat next to Trump's running mate, JD Vance.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, said in a speech to the Republican National Convention that God had "spared" Trump from death in Saturday's shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

"Last Saturday, in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Trump had a near-death experience, no question. But God spared his life," Graham said.

An ardent supporter of Trump, Graham led a prayer during the convention in which he asked God to "make America great again."

Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan used his primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention to praise Trump as a “gladiator” and “his hero.”

The 1980s wrestling icon, known for dramatically ripping off his shirt as he entered the ring, told the crowd that the “vibe was so intense” when he entered the convention hall that he felt like he was back in his wrestling days.

Then, true to form, he tore off his shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance tank top.

“Let Trumpamania run wild!” Hogan shouted.

Hogan was one of several pro wrestling and fighting figures booked by the GOP to speak on the final night of the convention. WWE co-founder Linda McMahon spoke earlier in the evening; Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, is scheduled to speak right before Trump’s closing address.

Melania Trump was photographed backstage at the RNC tonight, making it her first major political appearance alongside her husband since Trump announced his third presidential campaign in 2022. She was photographed boarding a flight to Milwaukee with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earlier today.

Melania spoke at both the 2016 and 2020 conventions but is not listed as a speaker in tonight's lineup. It's traditional at political conventions for the presidential candidate's spouse to make a speech.

Some of former President Donald Trump's family members — including his daughters, Ivanka and Tiffany, and son-in-law Jared Kushner — joined him at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night.

Country singer Jason Aldean is seated with his wife, Brittany Kerr, and Trump for the final night of the RNC.

Aldean has been a vocal supporter of Trump and dedicated his song, "Try That in a Small Town," to the former president during a recent concert in Nashville after Trump's assassination attempt. The music video for the song stirred outrage online last summer and was labeled as having "racist undertones."

Later tonight, Aldean is headlining a private RNC fundraiser in Milwaukee.

Russell Brand, the British actor and comedian, was spotted on the floor of the convention on Thursday.

On his podcast last month, Brand said that when it comes to democracy, the choice between President Biden and Trump is an easy one to make.

"If you care about democracy, if you care about freedom, I don't know how you could do anything other than vote for Donald Trump," he said.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson earned raucous applause throughout a speech in which he made the case for the "Trump project" being a democratic one.

Carlson's point was that Trump's ideological positioning is more focused on everyday Americans than the rest of the politicians in Washington. Trump "actually cares," he said, speaking without a teleprompter or notes.

"The entire point ... of Donald Trump's public life has been to remind us of one fact, which is: a leader's duty is to his people, to his country, and to no other. That's the point. That's the only point. And another word for this is 'democracy,'" he said.

Carlson cited the U.S. providing Ukraine funding for its defense against Russia's invasion. Many Republicans, including many of the lawmakers in the room, championed that funding; Trump's vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio has opposed continuing the military aid.

Fox News fired Carlson last year, ousting the then top-rated cable television host at the same time the network was settling a massive defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over its claim that Fox News promoted lies about the 2020 election.

Carlson has since started hosting an interview video series on X and on podcast platforms. He also has a subscription service with additional content for his fans.

"The left has tried to demolish President Trump, but there is no bulldozer big enough or strong enough to remove the legacies he has built or the future he is creating."

— Alina Habba, one of Trump's lawyers and a senior adviser to his campaign, on night four of the convention

Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, will sit for an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday, the network announced Thursday. It will be the first joint interview for the Republican ticket for 2024.

Trump and Vance are scheduled to appear at their first joint rally together in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday, one week after Trump’s attempted assassination.

Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor who has been a friend of Trump's since 1986, walked out onto the RNC stage to "An American Trilogy" by Elvis. Witkoff explained that he thinks it's the song that best captures Trump.

The rest of Witkoff's speech alluded to Trump's apparent love of music — echoing a sentiment Melania Trump wrote in her statement following Trump's assassination attempt on Saturday.

Law enforcement has ramped up security for the Republican National Convention in the aftermath of last weekend's attempted assassination of Trump. Tightened security efforts could be seen both in the immediate security perimeter around Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum and beyond.

Trump entered the Republican National Convention Thursday evening roughly two hours before he is expected to deliver his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination for 2024.

Trump entered to a cover of the AC/DC song "Back in Black," performed by the house band.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

In his speech before the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell recalled how Trump visited his church on his birthday, despite being "worth $6.7 billion."

"He came to the hood because he cares about average, everyday Americans," Sewell said.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went after what he considered to be the failures of the Biden administration during his RNC address, accusing President Biden of censoring free speech, encouraging a "woke" military and educational system and treating "illegals better than our own citizens."

Notably, Pompeo mentioned "evil Vladimir Putin" several times, which got little to no reaction from the crowd.

"We can't trust the Biden administration," Pompeo said. "Let's elect a president who isn't ashamed of our nation and who won't apologize for our country."

Pompeo served under the Trump administration as the director of the CIA from 2017 to 2018 and then as secretary of state until 2021. Pompeo was critical of Trump in 2016 and warned that Trump would be an authoritarian president who wouldn't honor the Constitution.

After the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which resulted in the deaths of five people, Pompeo and then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin allegedly spoke with Cabinet members about invoking the 25th mendment to remove Trump from power, according to a book from ABC News Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl.

Linda McMahon, former World Wrestling Entertainment chief executive and the head of the Small Business Administration under Trump, addressed the Republican National Convention on its final night.

McMahon, who co-founded WWE with her husband, Vince McMahon, recalled Trump’s history with professional wrestling — and said he took the same fighting approach with him to the Oval Office

“Donald Trump is not only a fighter,” she added. “He is a good man.”

Former professional wrestling star Hulk Hogan is scheduled to address the convention later tonight.

The final night of the Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee, and the pro-Trump fashion accessories — many of them custom — continue to be on full display.

Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who heads the Senate GOP campaign efforts, was the first Republican National Convention speaker on Thursday night.

"I'm working with President Trump to win the Senate majority and to fire Chuck Schumer," he announced to cheers.

Democrats are facing a difficult battle to hold onto their Senate majority this November, with many of their incumbents running for reelection in states that Trump won in 2020. Daines spoke directly to Trump's supporters in those states to make the pitch for ousting their current senators.

"Back in early 2023, President Trump and I met at Mar-a-Lago. We agreed our highest priority is electing an 'America First' Senate majority that has his back. Senators that will stand with President Trump. And tonight, I want to speak directly to the voters of West Virginia, of Montana, of Ohio, of Pennsylvania, of Nevada, of Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Virginia and New Mexico. And here's why: because your Democrat senators are lying to you," Daines said.

"They talk like moderates, but they vote like radicals," he said.

Tonight is the final night of the four-day Republican National Convention. Guest speakers including Tucker Carlson, Eric Trump and Hulk Hogan are expected to appear.

Kid Rock is set to perform right before Trump takes the stage for his first speech since his assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.

Sen. JD Vance will appear at a campaign event in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, on Monday. The rally will be held at his alma mater, Middletown High School, at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Vance mentioned his hometown several times during his RNC speech last night, concluding with "I promise you this: I will never forget where I came from."

Trump announced Thursday on Truth Social, his social media platform, that conservative commentator and former cable network host Lou Dobbs had died. Dobbs had worked for both Fox Business Network and CNN over the years.

President Biden is "still experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms," his doctor Kevin O'Connor said Thursday. The president doesn't have a fever, his vital signs are normal and he is taking Paxlovid.

Read more about the president's COVID-19 diagnosis here.

Rumors swirled on billionaire Elon Musk's social media site X on Thursday that he would speak at the convention. But Musk said flatly that he would not:

Musk recently endorsed Trump and has reportedly said he would give $45 million monthly to a pro-Trump super-PAC.