(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump said the assassination attempt on his life over the weekend has left an impact.
In a phone call with ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl on Monday as the Republican National Convention kicked off, Karl asked the former president if the close call with the bullet striking his right ear “changed him?”
“I don’t like to think about that, but, yes,” Trump said, adding that the incident “has an impact.”
In the hours that followed the assassination attempt at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally, President Joe Biden reached out to his political opponent. Asked about their phone call, Trump described the conversation as “very nice,” adding of the man he’s vying against for the presidency, “He couldn’t have been nicer.”
During an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday, President Biden was also asked about his phone call with Trump after this past weekend’s shooting, which he described as a “very cordial” conversation.
“I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was actually doing. He sounded good. He said he was fine. And he thanked me for calling him. I told him he was literally in the prayers of Jill and me, and I hoped his whole family was weathering this,” Biden said.
While speaking with ABC News’ Karl, Trump marveled at the people he said called him in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, including prominent individuals who have been critical of him in the past.
Trump also said his right ear is doing fine and that he hopes the bandage will be off by the time he speaks on Thursday at the RNC.
While speaking with Karl, Trump also addressed choosing Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
“I get along with him great,” Trump said of his VP pick.
He acknowledged that Vance had said some negative things about him, but “once he got to know me, he was all in.”
Asked how he plans to use Vance in the campaign, Trump said, “I’m going to leave him in Pennsylvania.”
Then, Trump said, he would send him to Wisconsin and “a lot of other places where people are hurting.”
MILWUAKEE — The first day of the Republican National Convention came with a big reveal: J.D. Vance is Donald Trump’s choice to be his running mate in the 2024 election.
The 39-year-old senator was met with rousing cheers as he walked onto the convention floor, where he stopped for selfies and to shake hands as he made his way toward the Ohio delegation.
The biggest applause, however, came moments later when Speaker Mike Johnson announced the joint Trump-Vance ticket.
ABC News spoke with delegates outside the convention center just after Vance’s appearance. Many described him as someone they could see being a faithful messenger of Trump’s agenda.
“I think it was a great selection by President Trump because Senator Vance’s conservative bona fides have been proven time and time again,” said John Merrill, a delegate from Alabama.
Merrill said he believed Vance would support Trump in nominating conservative judges and to carry out his immigration policies, including finishing the border wall.
Ohio State Rep. Cindy Abrams, a member of the Ohio delegation, praised Vance as someone who “supports law enforcement and law and order, most importantly securing our border.”
“I was really excited to hear J.D. Vance,” said Geraldine Wade, an alternate delegate from Georgia. “Everybody kept guessing, ‘Who is he gonna pick?’ but we wanted somebody who was adopting the MAGA agenda.”
“He has the youth and he has the enthusiasm and we think he would be a good person to carry on the agenda of Donald Trump,” Wade added.
Delegates from the Ohio delegation said they were “very excited” and “proud” about his nomination.
“We’re psyched that J.D. has taken up the mantle and sacrificed for his country and for our state Ohio, and we’re thankful to his family for also taking up this grave responsibility,” one member of the delegation said.
But Vance, a first-term senator, was little known in political circles until his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted him into the national spotlight. He won his seat in the Senate in 2022 with the support of Trump, despite having once declared himself a “never-Trumper” — statements he’s long since reversed.
Also Trump’s list of potential vice presidential picks were Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Both Rubio and Burgum were notified that they were not selected, ABC News reported earlier Monday.
“Everybody has their own favorite candidates but I think Senator Vance was on everybody’s list,” Merrill said of the vice presidential contenders. “He may not have been everyone’s favorite but he is certainly our favorite today.”
“I think that’s a fantastic pick,” said Bill Oden, a delegate from South Carolina. “I know he wasn’t on the radar but the fact he’s a fellow service member — I’m retired Air Force and he’s a Marine — it’s great to have a vice president that’s got military experience so he can advise the president on a lot of the actions we are going to be facing in the future.”
“I really don’t know him, so it’s great to have a new face,” said convention attendee Mary-Beth Checkai. “It’s great to have changes. He’s young. He served in the military, so he’s got values. And he’s got a family to protect, so I think it’s a great choice to move the party forward.”
Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in Iraq as a corporal with the public affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Other veterans at the RNC also praised his background.
Tiffanie Ditlevson, an Air Force veteran who is now serving as a city council member in Indiana, said she hopes it will inspire young people to consider a career in the military.
“I think it balances Trump in a different way,” she said of Vance being selected as his running mate. “I think definitely President Trump brings a lot to the table in terms of being an executive and running the country and his perspective and mindset, and then also having a veteran in there.”
(MILWAUKEE) — The Republican National Convention is set to kick off in Milwaukee on Monday — just two days after Donald Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday evening.
Despite the shooting, the gathering of more than 50,000 attendees, including an expected 2,400 Republican delegates, is slated to maintain its original programming as a time to bring the party together — but now newly energized by Trump’s amazing survival and raised-fist show of defiance.
Here’s how the news is developing:
JD Vance got a 20-minute heads-up on VP pick: Source Trump called JD Vance with the news that he was selecting the senator as his running mate roughly 20 minutes before announcing it on Truth Social, a source familiar with the call told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott
Roll call results in House Speaker Mike Johnson has announced that Trump has received 2,387 delegate votes — a unanimous result for the former president — following the conclusion of the convention roll call.
-ABC News’ Jacob Steinberg
McConnell booed as he awarded Kentucky’s delegates to Trump When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Kentucky would award its delegates to the former president, the tone in the convention center changed from its celebratory mood.
McConnell was joined by his wife, Elaine Chao, Trump’s former transportation secretary who resigned in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021.
The reception to McConnell’s delegate announcement was in marked contrast to the cheers of Trump allies as the party introduced a new-look platform and nominated a man McConnell said had morally failed the nation and invited the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, is stepping down from his position this fall.
‘Fight, fight, fight!,’ delegates chant Chants of “fight” popped up during the roll call — a nod to Trump, who could be seen mouthing “fight” and pumping his fist as he was taken off the stage following Saturday’s assassination attempt.
Following Delaware’s pledging of their votes to Trump, members of its delegation raised their fists in the air and chanted “fight, fight, fight!”
Wyoming delegates have done the same.
Idaho Republican Party chairwoman Dorothy Moon, while announcing delegates for Trump, led delegates in chanting “fight, fight, fight!”
-ABC News’ Jacob Steinberg and Tommy Barone
Trump clears threshold to lock in nomination Trump has officially cleared the numerical threshold at which he has locked in the nomination, with a pause in the roll call for celebration.
Florida, his adoptive home state, put him over the edge as his son, Eric Trump, announced the delegates.
-ABC News’ Tommy Barone
Donald Trump Jr. encouraged Vance choice, calls him the ‘American dream’ Donald Trump Jr. played a key role in his father picking Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
Sources tell ABC News the former president’s son “led a strong push” for him behind the scenes and that Trump made his decision in the last few hours.
Trump Jr. told ABC’s Rachel Scott on the RNC convention floor he was “incredibly excited.”
“J.D’s become a really good friend … his story is an incredible one, the American dream.”
“I know the man, I know the character,” Trump Jr. said of his friend, J.D. Vance.
-ABC’s John Santucci and Rachel Scott
Roll call vote underway The roll call vote to select Trump as the nominee is in progress, after the former president was formally nominated by Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufman and Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald.
“We want to remind all our delegates, alternates and guests that maintaining order during the roll call is extremely important,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
In his speech, Kaufman said that over the next four days, they will hear about Trump’s “broad and inspiring vision for our country.”
“This is not a program just for Republicans, but one for all Americans,” he said.
In his speech, McDonald played up Trump’s support for eliminating taxes on tips — a policy that plays well in the service-industry-dependent swing state of Nevada.
“In Nevada, a state that is resilient on service industry. President Trump has proposed to eliminate taxes on tips on day one,” McDonald said. “Unlike the Biden-Harris administration and the Democrats that increased taxes on tips.”
As Iowa cast its votes, Iowa GOP chair Kaufman gave a shoutout to basketball star Caitlin Clark, while Sen. Mike Lee of Utah shouted out JD Vance — Trump’s just-revealed VP pick — as he announced the state’s delegates for Trump.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Trump announces Vance as his running mate Trump announced Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance will be his running mate, writing on Truth Social that the Ohio Republican is “the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.”
The decision caps off months of speculation and sees Trump elevate a 39-year-old first-term senator whose roughly year and a half tenure in the Senate has seen him emerge as a staunch ideological ally of the former president.
GOP party platform passes The Republicans have passed their party platform, despite dissent from the evangelical wing over softened language on abortion that better matches Trump’s current posture. A fair amount of “nayes” were heard in the convention hall, but not enough for the vote to fail.
Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., told delegates that the “platform was personally approved by President Donald J. Trump.”
“It’s a different kind of platform,” said platform co-chair Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., as she presented the platform for a vote.
“It is not a laundry list of special interests’ wishes, but a succinct, clear agenda and a promise to the American people.”
Before the overwhelming voice vote in Milwaukee, the platform had passed 84-14 by the platform committee.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd, Tommy Barone and Jacob Steinberg
Burgum told he is not Trump’s running mate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been told he is not Trump’s running mate pick, three sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Trump’s pick is expected to be announced at some point Monday.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Rick Klein, Katherine Faulders
RNC officially underway The Republican National Convention is underway. A live rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” filled the convention center in Milwaukee. Groups of delegate were seen before and during these opening ceremonies pumping their fists and chanting “fight, fight, fight,” taking up former President Trump’s gesture after the shooting at his rally as a symbol for the party’s nominating convention.
Crowds continued the chant during “God Bless the USA” ahead of a vote on the party’s platform.
RNC co-chair Michael Whatley gaveled the convention to order and asked for a moment of silence to honor the shooting.
As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was announced as an honorary co-chair, audible boos were heard from the crowd. The Senate leader, who will step down from his perch atop the GOP conference, has had a frosty relationship with the former president since Jan. 6, 2021. -ABC News’ Jay O’Brien
Burgum told he is not Trump’s running mate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been told he is not Trump’s running mate pick, three sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Trump’s pick is expected to be announced at some point Monday.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Rick Klein, Katherine Faulders
Rubio told he is not Trump’s running mate Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been told he is not former President Donald Trump’s running mate pick, five sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Trump’s pick is expected to be announced at some point Monday.
-ABC News’ John Santucci, Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott, Rick Klein
Trump has made his VP selection Trump has selected his running mate, a senior campaign official told ABC News.
-ABC News’ John Santucci
Trump has made his VP selection Trump has selected his running mate, a senior campaign official told ABC News.
-ABC News’ John Santucci
Vivek Ramaswamy recounts ‘anger’ after Trump shooting, calls for unity Vivek Ramaswamy, speaking with reporters after his speech at the Heritage Policy Fest, joined Trump in stressing unity after the shooting at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally.
ABC News asked Ramaswamy for his response to Republicans like J.D. Vance going after Democrats and President Joe Biden in the wake of the attempted assassination attempt.
“Look, I think that there is a lot of understandable anger. I was … my first reaction was anger,” Ramaswamy said. “And the reason my first reaction was anger was that the only thing more tragic than what happened on Saturday is that if we’re being really honest with ourselves, all of us, it wasn’t totally a shock, actually. And that, that is maddening. And that … makes me angry as a citizen of the United States of America. But the question is, how do we channel that anger?”
Ramaswamy said Republicans have a “second chance that Lincoln didn’t have: to unite a country that this time didn’t have to fight a civil war, but avoids one.”
“If that bullet hit Donald Trump, we’d be in a very different place now,” he said. “And the fact that we’ve been given that chance, I think it’s our responsibility to step up and seize it not by compromising on our principles, but by actually reviving the principles that unite all of us. And by seeing the enemy as the ideology that we’re up against, rather than our fellow neighbors as our enemy combatants, and that’s what I call on not only the Republican Party but every American to do in the wake of what happened on Saturday.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Pre-planned group of 1,700 National Guardsmen and other troops supporting RNC security As part of a plan that predates the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, roughly 1,700 National Guardsmen and several active-duty troops will assist other agencies with security at the Republican National Convention, according to Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh.
“In regards to the Republican National Convention, approximately 1,700 National Guard and a small number of active-duty personnel will be providing support to civil authorities from July 13 through 19. These personnel are supporting the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Milwaukee Metro Police Department for 24/7 operations,” Singh said.
Singh emphasized that this support was pre-planned, and not related to the shooting at Trump’s rally over the weekend, nor was the force augmented as a result.
-Matt Seyler
Trump says he will announce VP pick today Former President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday morning that he will announce his pick for vice president on Monday.
The decision will come after months of speculation about who his running mate will be.
There will be a roll call vote on the presidential ticket, which includes the vice president, on Monday at the RNC.
Trump in Milwaukee as RNC set to begin The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump has thoroughly altered the stakes and tone of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which kicks off Monday, just two days after a shooter opened fire at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, grazing Trump’s ear and leading to a spectator’s death.
Trump arrived in Milwaukee Sunday afternoon, ahead of the RNC’s start on Monday.
In a social media post Sunday, Trump indicated that he was going to delay his trip, but decided he wouldn’t allow a “shooter” to change his scheduled plans to head to the RNC.
U.S. Secret Service and other officials said Sunday there are no plans to expand the security perimeter and that there are no known threats. Ahead of the shooting at his rally, the GOP convention was gearing up to be an extravagant event centered around symbolic, Trump-era Republican ideas and party unity, sealed on Thursday with the third nomination of the former president.
-ABC’s Brittany Shepherd, Kelsey Walsh and Isabella Murray
Trump says he’s scratching planned speech to stress unity instead As the Republican National Convention begins, the atmosphere will feel entirely different following former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination.
A day after being grazed by a bullet, Trump indicated he plans to take advantage of the moment and deliver a message of unity.
The former president said he is scratching his original convention speech from rallying his base against President Joe Biden to now attempting to draw the country together, according to an interview he did with the Washington Examiner conducted as he boarded his flight to Milwaukee Sunday evening.
During the first official session, delegates — nearly 2,400 from across the nation — must approve the committee platform and formally designate a presidential ticket. The ticket will include Trump’s vice president who he has yet to name. The evening session’s theme is “Make America Wealthy Again.” Speeches will include issues focused on beating inflation, rising costs and creating more jobs.
(MILWAUKEE) — Former President Donald Trump has picked Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, placing a young, ideological ally alongside him on the Republican 2024 ticket.
Trump announced Vance would be his running mate on Monday, writing on Truth Social that the Ohio Republican is “the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.”
The decision caps off months of speculation and sees Trump elevate a 39-year-old first-term senator whose roughly year and a half tenure in the Senate has seen him emerge as a staunch ideological ally of the former president.
“As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The Trump campaign wasted no time promoting the former president’s pick, posting an ad on social media featuring a montage of Vance praising Trump.
“I am proud that I have been an ally of Donald Trump’s in Washington, D.C.,” Vance says in one of the clips in the ad.
The campaign is also fundraising off of the announcement, saying in a campaign email Monday afternoon that Trump “always knew” he “needed” Vance on his side.
President Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement on Vance being named Trump’s vice presidential pick, slamming Vance as someone who will further Trump’s “extreme MAGA agenda.”
“Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” Biden Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a statement.
Vice presidential hopefuls Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum both issued their support for the Republican ticket.
Following the announcement, Rubio posted to social media “#TrumpVance2024!!!”
In a social media post, Burgum said he looks forward to being on the campaign trail for the new Trump-Vance ticket. He also complimented Vance for his small-town roots and service to the county.
Who is J.D. Vance? Vance rose to fame through his 2016 book, “Hillbilly Elegy.” He evolved from a “never-Trump guy” to one of Trump’s strongest surrogates in an eight-year span.
Vance was born in Middleton, Ohio, and served in the Marine Corps. He later attended Ohio State University and eventually graduated from Yale Law School.
He was a corporate lawyer and then worked in the tech industry as a venture capitalist.
In 2016, Vance released his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which shared his story of growing up in poverty in America’s Rust Belt and being surrounded by violence and addiction.
Vance eventually became an emissary between the media and those in the Rust Belt during the 2016 election, discussing the issues important to those who had a similar background to him.
During this time, Vance made his disdain for Trump clear, saying he was a “never-Trump guy” in an interview with Charlie Rose in 2016.
In August 2016, he told ABC News that he didn’t see Trump “offering many solutions.”
But Vance would eventually align with the former president, praising his time in office and apologizing for his attacks on him during an interview with Fox News in July 2021.
“I’ve been very open about the fact that I did say those critical things, and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said on Fox News in 2021.
His apology came around the same time Vance entered the race for the open Ohio Senate seat, which became one of the most competitive GOP primaries of the 2022 election cycle. Trump endorsed Vance for the job, which helped him win both the primary election and general election against Ohio Democrat Tim Scott.
In his role as senator, some of his most notable work has been responding to the East Palestine train derailment in his home state. He has also stayed true to his tough conservative brand, including opposing aid to Ukraine.
In 2024, Vance has been a reliable surrogate for Trump — appearing at campaign events, defending him in television appearances and helping the former president raise money for his campaign.
ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
(MILWAUKEE) — The Republican National Convention is set to kick off in Milwaukee on Monday — just two days after Donald Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday evening.
Despite the shooting, the gathering of more than 50,000 attendees, including an expected 2,400 Republican delegates, is slated to maintain its original programming as a time to bring the party together — but now newly energized by Trump’s amazing survival and raised-fist show of defiance.
Here’s how the news is developing:
RNC officially underway The Republican National Convention is underway. A live rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” filled the convention center in Milwaukee. Groups of delegate were seen before and during these opening ceremonies pumping their fists and chanting “fight, fight, fight,” taking up former President Trump’s gesture after the shooting at his rally as a symbol for the party’s nominating convention.
Crowds continued the chant during “God Bless the USA” ahead of a vote on the party’s platform.
RNC co-chair Michael Whatley gaveled the convention to order and asked for a moment of silence to honor the shooting.
As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was announced as an honorary co-chair, audible boos were heard from the crowd. The Senate leader, who will step down from his perch atop the GOP conference, has had a frosty relationship with the former president since Jan. 6, 2021. -ABC News’ Jay O’Brien
Burgum told he is not Trump’s running mate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been told he is not Trump’s running mate pick, three sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Trump’s pick is expected to be announced at some point Monday.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Rick Klein, Katherine Faulders
Rubio told he is not Trump’s running mate Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been told he is not former President Donald Trump’s running mate pick, five sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Trump’s pick is expected to be announced at some point Monday.
-ABC News’ John Santucci, Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott, Rick Klein
Trump has made his VP selection Trump has selected his running mate, a senior campaign official told ABC News.
-ABC News’ John Santucci
Trump has made his VP selection Trump has selected his running mate, a senior campaign official told ABC News.
-ABC News’ John Santucci
Vivek Ramaswamy recounts ‘anger’ after Trump shooting, calls for unity Vivek Ramaswamy, speaking with reporters after his speech at the Heritage Policy Fest, joined Trump in stressing unity after the shooting at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally.
ABC News asked Ramaswamy for his response to Republicans like J.D. Vance going after Democrats and President Joe Biden in the wake of the attempted assassination attempt.
“Look, I think that there is a lot of understandable anger. I was … my first reaction was anger,” Ramaswamy said. “And the reason my first reaction was anger was that the only thing more tragic than what happened on Saturday is that if we’re being really honest with ourselves, all of us, it wasn’t totally a shock, actually. And that, that is maddening. And that … makes me angry as a citizen of the United States of America. But the question is, how do we channel that anger?”
Ramaswamy said Republicans have a “second chance that Lincoln didn’t have: to unite a country that this time didn’t have to fight a civil war, but avoids one.”
“If that bullet hit Donald Trump, we’d be in a very different place now,” he said. “And the fact that we’ve been given that chance, I think it’s our responsibility to step up and seize it not by compromising on our principles, but by actually reviving the principles that unite all of us. And by seeing the enemy as the ideology that we’re up against, rather than our fellow neighbors as our enemy combatants, and that’s what I call on not only the Republican Party but every American to do in the wake of what happened on Saturday.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Pre-planned group of 1,700 National Guardsmen and other troops supporting RNC security As part of a plan that predates the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, roughly 1,700 National Guardsmen and several active-duty troops will assist other agencies with security at the Republican National Convention, according to Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh.
“In regards to the Republican National Convention, approximately 1,700 National Guard and a small number of active-duty personnel will be providing support to civil authorities from July 13 through 19. These personnel are supporting the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Milwaukee Metro Police Department for 24/7 operations,” Singh said.
Singh emphasized that this support was pre-planned, and not related to the shooting at Trump’s rally over the weekend, nor was the force augmented as a result.
-Matt Seyler
Trump says he will announce VP pick today Former President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday morning that he will announce his pick for vice president on Monday.
The decision will come after months of speculation about who his running mate will be.
There will be a roll call vote on the presidential ticket, which includes the vice president, on Monday at the RNC.
Trump in Milwaukee as RNC set to begin The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump has thoroughly altered the stakes and tone of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which kicks off Monday, just two days after a shooter opened fire at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, grazing Trump’s ear and leading to a spectator’s death.
Trump arrived in Milwaukee Sunday afternoon, ahead of the RNC’s start on Monday.
In a social media post Sunday, Trump indicated that he was going to delay his trip, but decided he wouldn’t allow a “shooter” to change his scheduled plans to head to the RNC.
U.S. Secret Service and other officials said Sunday there are no plans to expand the security perimeter and that there are no known threats. Ahead of the shooting at his rally, the GOP convention was gearing up to be an extravagant event centered around symbolic, Trump-era Republican ideas and party unity, sealed on Thursday with the third nomination of the former president.
-ABC’s Brittany Shepherd, Kelsey Walsh and Isabella Murray
Trump says he’s scratching planned speech to stress unity instead As the Republican National Convention begins, the atmosphere will feel entirely different following former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination.
A day after being grazed by a bullet, Trump indicated he plans to take advantage of the moment and deliver a message of unity.
The former president said he is scratching his original convention speech from rallying his base against President Joe Biden to now attempting to draw the country together, according to an interview he did with the Washington Examiner conducted as he boarded his flight to Milwaukee Sunday evening.
During the first official session, delegates — nearly 2,400 from across the nation — must approve the committee platform and formally designate a presidential ticket. The ticket will include Trump’s vice president who he has yet to name. The evening session’s theme is “Make America Wealthy Again.” Speeches will include issues focused on beating inflation, rising costs and creating more jobs.
(MILWAUKEE) — The Republican National Convention is set to kick off in Milwaukee on Monday — just two days after Donald Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday evening.
Despite the shooting, the gathering of more than 50,000 attendees, including an expected 2,400 Republican delegates, is slated to maintain its original programming as a time to bring the party together — but now newly energized by Trump’s amazing survival and raised-fist show of defiance.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Pre-planned group of 1,700 National Guardsmen and other troops supporting RNC security As part of a plan that predates the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, roughly 1,700 National Guardsmen and several active-duty troops will assist other agencies with security at the Republican National Convention, according to Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh.
“In regards to the Republican National Convention, approximately 1,700 National Guard and a small number of active-duty personnel will be providing support to civil authorities from July 13 through 19. These personnel are supporting the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Milwaukee Metro Police Department for 24/7 operations,” Singh said.
Singh emphasized that this support was pre-planned, and not related to the shooting at Trump’s rally over the weekend, nor was the force augmented as a result.
-Matt Seyler
Trump says he will announce VP pick today Former President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday morning that he will announce his pick for vice president on Monday.
The decision will come after months of speculation about who his running mate will be.
There will be a roll call vote on the presidential ticket, which includes the vice president, on Monday at the RNC.
Trump in Milwaukee as RNC set to begin The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump has thoroughly altered the stakes and tone of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which kicks off Monday, just two days after a shooter opened fire at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, grazing Trump’s ear and leading to a spectator’s death.
Trump arrived in Milwaukee Sunday afternoon, ahead of the RNC’s start on Monday.
In a social media post Sunday, Trump indicated that he was going to delay his trip, but decided he wouldn’t allow a “shooter” to change his scheduled plans to head to the RNC.
U.S. Secret Service and other officials said Sunday there are no plans to expand the security perimeter and that there are no known threats. Ahead of the shooting at his rally, the GOP convention was gearing up to be an extravagant event centered around symbolic, Trump-era Republican ideas and party unity, sealed on Thursday with the third nomination of the former president.
-ABC’s Brittany Shepherd, Kelsey Walsh and Isabella Murray
Trump says he’s scratching planned speech to stress unity instead As the Republican National Convention begins, the atmosphere will feel entirely different following former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination.
A day after being grazed by a bullet, Trump indicated he plans to take advantage of the moment and deliver a message of unity.
The former president said he is scratching his original convention speech from rallying his base against President Joe Biden to now attempting to draw the country together, according to an interview he did with the Washington Examiner conducted as he boarded his flight to Milwaukee Sunday evening.
During the first official session, delegates — nearly 2,400 from across the nation — must approve the committee platform and formally designate a presidential ticket. The ticket will include Trump’s vice president who he has yet to name. The evening session’s theme is “Make America Wealthy Again.” Speeches will include issues focused on beating inflation, rising costs and creating more jobs.
(FORT PIERCE, Fla.) — The classified documents case against former President Donald Trump has been dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, according to court records.
The judge ruled that special counsel Jack Smith’s apointment was unconstitutional.
“The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” she wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — In the aftermath of his being shot at his political rally — an attack that left one spectator dead and two others critically wounded — former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for unity – even as some of his vice presidential hopefuls and allies right after the assassination attempt blamed President Joe Biden and his rhetoric.
“Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed,” Trump posted on his social media platform on Sunday, the morning after the incident.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump continued, thanking his followers and those around him.
Not only is there a disconnect with his VP contenders — it’s a shift in tone for the former president – who has frequently attacked Biden and called for retribution against critics throughout the election cycle.
After the shooting at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, both the former president himself and his campaign have emphasized his desire to carry on with the upcoming Republican National Convention as scheduled and fundraising for victims and their families. Former first lady Melania Trump, too, in a rare statement, stressed, “Let’s reunite. Now.”
However, some of Trump’s strongest allies and VP hopefuls are taking a different approach from the former president. Instead, they are blaming Biden and Democrats, claiming their campaign rhetoric for contributing to the assassination attempt.
That’s in stark contract with how one of Trump’s top contenders to be his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, said on X in the first minutes following the shooting.
“Today is not just some isolated incident,” Vance wrote on X. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, also said to be on Trump’s VP shortlist, said right afterward that Democrats’ “rhetoric” surrounding Republicans have put people’s lives at risk.
“For years, Democrats and their allies in the media have recklessly stoked fears, calling President Trump and other conservatives threats to democracy,” Scott wrote on X. “Their inflammatory rhetoric puts lives at risk.”
Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, an ally of Trump who some had speculated to be among possible VP hopefuls, also blamed Biden right afterward.
“President Biden’s ritual condemnations of political violence are insufficient. No amount of verbiage today changes the toxic national climate that led to this tragedy,” Ramaswamy said in a statement.
Chris LaCivita, a senior campaign adviser to the former president, also blamed Biden and Democrats for Saturday’s shooting.
“For years, and even today, leftist activists, Democrat donors and now even [Biden] have made disgusting remarks descriptions of shooting Donald Trump,” LaCivita said on X. “It’s high time they be held accountable for it [and] the best way is through the ballot box.”
Others on Trump’s VP shortlist did not go as far.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, posted on social media “God protected President Trump,” while North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum wrote, “We all know President Trump is stronger than his enemies. Today he showed it.”
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Sunday repeated calls for national unity in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“Last night I spoke with Donald Trump. I am sincerely grateful that he’s doing well, and recovering. We had a short but good conversation. Jill and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers,” he said, speaking about the assassination aftermath before reporters gathered the White House Roosevelt Room.
“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as — as a nation, everything. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not American. And we cannot allow this to happen,” he continued.
“Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is important than that right now, unity. We’ll debate and we’ll disagree, it’s not– that’s not going to change. But it’s going to — we’re going to not lose sight of the fact who we are as Americans,” he said.
He cautioned against speculation about the shooter’s motive, saying it wasn’t yet known.
And he said he had ordered an independent review of how security was handled at the political rally in Pennsylvania and would be speaking to the nation Sunday night. The White House said his address from the Oval Office would be at 8 p.m. ET.
Biden, who was flanked by Garland, Mayorkas and Vice President Kamala Harris, did not take questions.
He had been briefed shortly before in the White House Situation Room by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI director Christopher Wray, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle.
Biden has had to tread carefully since news of the Trump shooting first broke because not only is he president — but also a candidate and Donald Trump’s political opponent.
He must show he’s in command of the crisis as well amid growing questions about his mental and physical fitness for the job.
Informed shortly after the shooting happened, he initially put out a statement — after some basic facts became known — saying he was “grateful” that Trump was “safe.”
He then made hastily arranged remarks to reporters and the nation on live television — saying he had tried to phone the former president — whom he notably called “Donald” — condemning the attack and calling for unity.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country,” he said.
“But the idea, the idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this, is just unheard of, it’s just not appropriate. We – everybody, everybody must condemn it,” he said.
He then quickly changed plans and flew back from Delaware to the White House.
When he arrived at Joint Base Andrews, it was notable how close Biden’s top Secret Service agent was to him as he stepped off Air Force One, staying just a few steps away as the president walked down the steps.
Typically, Biden makes it to the bottom of those steps before his security detail steps off the plane.
Lafayette Park, directly in front of the White House, remained closed Sunday morning as the Secret Service posture was notably heightened around the White House.
Sunday afternoon, the White House said said Biden was rescheduling his planned Monday trip to Austin, Texas, where he was set to deliver the keynote address at a commemoration for the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the LBJ Presidential Library.
(WASHINGTON) — A 20-year-old Pennsylvania man was suspected to have been the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday, firing several shots and killing at least one spectator, federal and local law enforcement agencies said.
The FBI early on Sunday identified the suspect, who was killed at the scene, as Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park.
The FBI did not “currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said.
Watch the ABC News special, “Trump Assassination Attempt Minute by Minute,” Sunday at 8 p.m. ET
Crooks had been registered as a Republican voter, according to state records. He graduated from high school in Pennsylvania in 2022, district officials said. The branches of the U.S. military told ABC News they didn’t have any records matching the shooter.
The firearm recovered at the scene was legally purchased by the suspect’s father, an urgent trace conducted by ATF found, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Authorities found items of concern inside the shooter’s vehicle parked outside the rally, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Bomb technicians and other experts were called to investigate but there is no immediate word on what the suspicious items were or whether they were potentially harmful, the sources said.
Shots rang out a few moments after Trump stepped onto an outdoor stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, at about 6 p.m. on Saturday, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said. The suspect was firing from the roof of a building outside the security perimeter, taking aim from hundreds of feet away from the stage, law enforcement said.
One of the bullets struck Trump in his right ear, the former president said. The U.S. Secret Service said Trump was “safe.”
A Secret Service counter-sniper opened fire and killed the suspect, the agency said. The scene was “chaotic” and “everything unfolded very quickly,” Bevins said.
Law enforcement officials took several hours to publicly identify Crooks as their suspect, saying at a press conference late Saturday that they believed they knew who carried out the shooting, but were refraining from naming the individual.
Officials had said during that press conference that they were using the suspect’s DNA to confirm his identity, because the suspect had not been carrying anything that would have identified him.
“It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations,” Rojek said. “So, there was no identification on the individual, for example, so we’re looking at photographs right now and we’re trying to run his DNA and get biometric confirmation.”
It was too early in the investigation to say whether Crooks had been acting alone, Bivens said. Investigators were determining if anyone else had been involved, he said.
The FBI did not “currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” Rojek said.
He graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High, according to the Bethel Park School District. The district said it was limited in what it could disclose publicly, adding that it would “cooperate fully” with the investigation.
“The school district wishes to express its sincere wishes for a speedy and full recovery for Mr. Trump and for those in attendance at the Saturday event who may have been physically harmed or emotionally impacted by these tragic events,” the district said in part in a statement.
The district added, “We offer special condolences to the family of at least one attendee who was killed. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.”
As the FBI issued a statement early Sunday naming Crooks, a bureau spokesperson said the investigation remains “active and ongoing.” The FBI urged anyone with photos, videos or information to come forward.
ABC News’ Jack Date, Luke Barr, Pierre Thomas, Isabella Murray, Mark Osborne, Charlotte Slovin, Sasha Pezenik, Matt Seyler and Luis Martines contributed to this report.
