Members of the Trump campaign had boasted that their candidate’s acceptance speech would ring with echoes of the address given by Richard Nixon when he secured the Republican presidential nomination in 1968, in another time of urban unrest and public angst about crime and a unsafe world.
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Donald Trump on July 21 accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for president of the United States, pledging to champion “Americanism, not globalism” if he is elected to the White House and accusing his likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, of a legacy of “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”.
The speech was Trump’s biggest opportunity to recast his campaign in a way that sheds some of his harsh rhetoric and transitions into something that is more palatable for a general electorate.
Republican candidates had pledged during the primary contests to support the party’s eventual nominee.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, another vanquished Trump rival, said the comments “make the world more risky and the United States less safe”.
Trump has talked about running for president several times in the past, most notably in 2011, when he became the “birther” movement’s highest-profile champion and rose to the top of some early polls. Ted Cruz’s dramatic refusal to endorse him from the convention stage.
Overseas U.S. allies as well as voters at home will be closely watching his address, which comes the day after his suggestion that he might not defend America’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partners as president.
Trump’s wife, Melania, foreshadowed it all on opening night, noting, “It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama”.
Trump has argued he will strike better deals for American workers than previous agreements. “It got me here”, said Trump, who has fired up crowds with promises to create jobs, be tough on national security and ensure that foreign policy keeps American interests firmly at its heart. Notwithstanding the FBI’s conclusion that Clinton’s use of a private email server to transmit classified material was extremely careless and negligent but not worthy of criminal prosecution, Trump claimed to know better: “These terms are minor compared to what she actually did”.
“In a lot of ways, that’ll be the easiest thing because then it will just be an aberration and I think things will float back”, said one longtime GOP fundraiser on condition of anonymity.
The ACLU said Thursday there was no reason for the 17 people to be held so long on minor charges. That statement caused numerous foreign policy experts to almost choke on their breakfast scones and led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation officials to release a statement assuring that solidarity is key to the military alliance’s success.
Trump did not explicitly blame President George W. Bush, but he criticized American foreign policy that led to “15 years of wars”.
In response to a question about potential Russian aggression towards the Baltic states, Trump told the newspaper in an interview that if Moscow attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us”.
Democrats, Republicans and global partners warned of the risks of backing away from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation obligations. Tim Kaine has emerged as the leading contender.
Trump had hoped the four-day Republican convention would bolster his support among GOP leaders and win over skeptics. But that goal seemed guaranteed to go unfulfilled following Cruz’s stubborn defiance on the convention stage. Ted Cruz was booed off the stage after he clearly refused to endorse Trump.
Investigators say Trump and his followers may one day be held responsible, but not until after November 8.
The two eldest Trump sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, had their time to praise their dad on Tuesday and Wednesday nights respectively, but it’s Ivanka’s turn on Thursday.
Trump supporters were furious at Cruz, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who called the senator “totally selfish”.
“I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father”, Cruz told a meeting of the Texas delegation in Cleveland. He moved no closer to an endorsement, saying only that he, too, would be watching and listening Thursday night. He insisted he would not be a “servile puppy dog”, especially after Trump’s criticism of his wife and father. He predicted that Texans won’t forget Cruz turning his back on the party’s nominee.
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“These are the forgotten men and women of our country”, he said.
