Trump appears with bandaged ear at Republican convention

With a bandage wrapped around one ear, Donald Trump made a triumphant return to public view on Monday night at the Republican National Convention, receiving a rousing welcome from thousands of supporters, two days after his assassination attempt.

The former president entered the convention hall in Milwaukee with his fist raised and the strains of “God Bless the USA.”

He then slowly walked through the crowd of cheering delegates — some with tears in their eyes — before greeting key political allies and family members, including his three children, but not his wife Melania.

At one point, the audience raised their fists and chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight!” — echoing Trump’s cry after a bullet grazed his ear at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The Republican nominee for president in November is gaining political momentum. Democrats have questioned 81-year-old Joe Biden after 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 Sen. J.D. Vance, whose name was announced just hours earlier as a candidate for the November election.

Trump did not speak but at times appeared emotional in front of the crowd of thousands. He bowed his head in prayer and muttered several times, “Thank you, everyone.”

Republican supporters and delegates, some in tears, waited hours for the former president to appear, an event not officially listed on the convention’s opening day schedule but widely anticipated.

Among other speakers on Monday’s panel was Teamsters union head Sean O’Brien, who said he did not support any particular party but praised Trump as “tough” and willing to listen to critics.

The conference also heard from former Trump critic Amber Rose, model and rapper, who described her political journey towards the former president. She added: “Trump supporters don’t care if you’re black, white, gay or straight – it’s all about love.”

Donald Trump’s appearance was the highlight of an eventful first day of the Republican Party’s convention in Wisconsin, one of six battleground states that will decide the election.

Before the convention officially opened, it was reported that a federal judge had dismissed criminal charges against Trump for hiding 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 illegally appointed to his position and had no authority to bring the 37-count indictment against the former president.

It’s another victory for the Republican candidate, who now faces no further criminal trial before Americans go to the polls on November 5.

Shortly after the convention opened, nearly 2,500 Republican delegates formally nominated Trump as their presidential candidate in a roll call vote.

Breaking with recent tradition, Trump waited until the convention to announce Vance as his vice presidential nominee, revealing his choice on the social media network Truth Social on Monday afternoon.

The Ohio senator and author of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy reportedly heard of his selection just minutes before the announcement.

He smiled and looked slightly surprised as he entered the crowd with his wife Usha, and chatted with the crowd of delegates surrounding him.

“In three [contenders] “On a short list, I don’t think you could do better,” said Greg Simpson, a Republican delegate who lives not far from Vance’s childhood home in Middletown, Ohio.

But Democrats said they would consider Mr Vance’s anti-abortion views and ties to big tech companies throughout his venture capital career as issues of concern.

Democratic President Joe Biden said in a message posted on X that Mr Vance “talks a lot about working people” but would raise taxes on ordinary Americans while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Speaking to reporters, he called Mr Vance a “Trump clone”.

The president also spoke to NBC News, saying he was wrong to say it was “time to take Trump to task” during a call with donors days before his political rival was nearly killed.

But he blamed his opponent for upping the political ante by denying the 2020 election results, promising amnesty for rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and joking about the serious attack on Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

While Trump remained in Milwaukee and prepared to deliver his closing speech at the convention on Thursday night, Biden resumed his campaign, flying to Las Vegas for events after a pause in rallies following the attack.

The first day of the convention was filled with speeches from Republican officials and regular supporters chosen to reinforce the day’s theme, the economy.

“Out of control inflation is putting pressure on our budgets and both violent crime and the drug epidemic are pushing people out of our cities, while Democrats do nothing,” Bobby Bartels, a union leader from New York, told the crowd.

“That’s why this Democrat is going to vote for Trump,” he said.

But the assassination was still fresh in the minds of delegates gathered from across the United States and its territories.

“Saturday scared me,” said Florida Representative Joe Mullins. “We would be in a completely different world without that half inch. I was in tears, and I haven’t cried like that since I lost my mother.”

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, one of Trump’s vice presidential running mates, told the crowd: “If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better believe now.”

“On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania with a rifle, but an American lion stood up and roared,” he said.