Former United States President Donald Trump will focus on national unity and share his personal stories in his acceptance speech on Thursday as the presidential nominee of the Republican Party for the November election, days after he faced an assassination attempt.
IMAGE: Former US President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and US Congressman Byron Donalds on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention. Photograph: / Brian Snyder/Reuters
Trump, 78, has trashed the convention speech written before July 13, the evening when a young man tried to kill him by shooting from a rooftop at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and writing another to address the party cadres and leaders gathered from across the country for their once in a four-year meeting — the Republican National Convention — in the major swing state of Wisconsin.
On day one of the convention on Monday, Trump received a roaring reception as he appeared with a white bandage on his ear, covering the wound he sustained in the failed assassination attempt.
He appeared with a similar bandage on the other two days too and inspired several supporters to sport a similar makeshift bandage on their ears.
People close to the former president said the incident has changed his life forever.
“Trump has now scrapped his previous speech and personally written down a new speech for July 18 night, the last day of the four-day RNC convention,” said sources.
Being billed as a historic speech by those familiar with one of its several drafts, Trump is expected to focus on personal stories to give a clarion call for national unity. As of now, the speech is expected to last for about an hour.
“President Trump would be sharing one of the most historic speeches that he has ever given,” a source familiar with the speech said.
According to a second source, Trump has himself written his remarks this time.
Trump is going to focus obviously on the contrast between his record and incumbent President Joe Biden’s record, but this is going to be more of a personal story, ‘really coming from the heart’, informed sources said.
“One is not sure how much it will have the component of national security and foreign policy given that the entire world would be glued to it, but given the events of Saturday, the speech is really going to focus a lot on the Unity issues,” sources added.
Watching the former US president in the Family Suit of the convention centre would be the former First Lady Melania Trump, his sons Donald J Trump Jr and Eric Trump, daughter Ivanka along with Jared Kushner and other members of the family. Son Barron is unlikely to be present during the speech on Thursday night.
At the conclusion of the speech, Trump’s family along with that of his running mate, Senator J D Vance would join him on the stage for the traditional balloon drop.
Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship would be introducing Trump before he speaks, source said.
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk is also expected to be at the convention, but his name was not on the list of speakers till Thursday morning.
Among other prominent speakers on the last day of the four-day convention are Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, Tucker Carlson, founder of Tucker Carlson Network; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and his son Eric Trump.
Melania Trump would not be speaking at the convention, sources said but things might change during the day.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr has asserted that his father’s instinct in the face of an assassination attempt has shown the world that the ‘next American president has the heart of a lion’.
Addressing the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, Trump Jr said that the assassination attempt on his father on Saturday ‘once seemed unimaginable became a terrifying reality’.
“They say you can’t truly know how you’ll respond in a moment of danger until you’re actually confronted with it,” the 46-year-old eldest child of the former president, said.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people gathered to pay tributes to the former fire chief fatally shot at a weekend rally at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania, the public event being one of the two to memorialise Corey Comperatore’s life.
