People near where the Republican National Convention is taking place in Milwaukee are reacting to the attempted assassination of the former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. (AP video: Carrie Antlfinger)
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The Republican National Convention kicks off this week, with delegates and officials descending on Wisconsin amid the tumult that follows a Saturday assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as he prepares to become the GOP’s official nominee.
The quadrennial event takes place not only as Trump leads a party in lockstep behind him, but also as Democrats roil over President Joe Biden’s viability and if they should replace him as their nominee.
What to know:
- Latest on the assassination attempt: FBI officials say they have yet to determine what motivated the shooter to open fire from a nearby rooftop, killing one spectator and critically injuring two others before he was shot dead by the Secret Service.
- How to watch the RNC: The RNC will livestream proceedings across a number of online platforms, including YouTube and X. A number of networks have announced special programming for the primetime evening portions of the convention.
- Is Trump speaking at the RNC today?: Trump is expected to give his nomination acceptance speech on Thursday. But he’s yet to announce his running mate, who will be expected to deliver a speech of their own on Wednesday night.
Biden and Harris getting updated briefing on assassination attempt against Trump
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are getting an updated briefing from homeland security and law enforcement officials on the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
The briefing is taking place in the Situation Room, the White House says.
The attorney general, homeland security secretary, FBI director and the director and deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service are among those briefing Biden and Harris.
Federal judge cites Justice Thomas in tossing Trump classified documents case
When U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, she pointed several times to a concurrence written by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The concurrence was part of the high court’s ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution, a finding that all but ended the prospects Trump could be tried on election-interference charges in Washington before the election.
No other justice signed onto Thomas’s concurrence. He questioned whether special counsel Jack Smith had been legally appointed and called on lower court judges to weigh the question.
Judge dismisses Trump classified documents case over concerns about legality of special counsel’s appointment
The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case of former President Donald Trump in Florida has dismissed the prosecution because of concerns over the appointment of the prosecutor who brought the case.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted the defense motion to dismiss the case Monday.
Lawyers for Trump had argued that special counsel Jack Smith was illicitly appointed and that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department.
What to watch as the Republican National Convention kicks off days after Trump assassination attempt
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican National Convention starts Monday in Milwaukee, two days after Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt, with the violent scene at his campaign rally horrifying the country and amplifying already intense political divisions.
People walk past the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, July 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump and his advisers are pledging resilience in the face of the attack, with plans going forward for the event to showcase the former president and his platform as his party formally chooses him to be its nominee.
It was not immediately clear if and how Saturday’s attack would alter the four-day event, which normally has a celebratory atmosphere. Republican officials have said they want to defy the threat Trump has faced and stick to their plans and their schedule. But at the very least, the event is expected to include a heightened focus on security and a grim recognition of how stunningly close the presumptive Republican nominee came to losing his life.
▶ Here’s what to watch for on the first day of the Republican National Convention
Jill Biden has spoken with Melania Trump after Saturday assassination attempt
First lady Jill Biden has spoken to Melania Trump following an attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The first lady’s office confirmed they spoke Sunday afternoon but have not released any details on the conversation. President Joe Biden spoke with Donald Trump following the attack at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump is attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.
Anger and anxiety loom over the Republican convention after the assassination attempt against Trump
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign chiefs designed the convention opening this week to feature a softer and more optimistic message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters and people of color.
Law enforcement officers stand in an aisle at the 2024 Republican National Convention inside the Fiserv Forum, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Then came a shooting that rattled the foundation of American politics.
Suddenly, the Democrats’ turmoil after the debate, the GOP’s potential governing agenda and even Trump’s criminal convictions became secondary to fears about political violence and the country’s stability. The presumptive Republican nominee and his allies will face the nation during their four-day convention in Milwaukee unquestionably united and ready to “fight,” as the bloodied Trump cried out Saturday while Secret Service agents at his Pennsylvania rally rushed him to safety.
Milwaukee mayor: RNC has the highest security level possible and ‘I feel pretty confident’
Milwaukee’s mayor says he knows Americans will have questions about security at the Republican National Convention after Saturday’s assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, but the event has the highest security level possible “so I feel pretty confident.”
“The folks on the ground here have confidence in the work that they’ve put in over the last 18 months,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at a Monday morning briefing. “And I have faith and confidence as well in the Secret Service and the police and fire departments and other agencies providing security today.”
Secret Service director says she’s confident in RNC security plan
The director of the U.S. Secret Service says she’s confident in the plan to secure the Republican National Convention that begins Monday in the wake of an attempt on the life of presidential candidate Donald Trump.
In a statement, Kim Cheatle said Monday the security plans for the event are “designed to be flexible.”
“The Secret Service will continuously adapt our operations as necessary to ensure the highest level of safety,” she said.
Cheatle says the plan will change as necessary to ensure the continued safety of attendees at the Milwaukee event.
A man shot at Trump from a rooftop near a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. Trump is recovering and will attend the convention. President Joe Biden ordered a national security review of the incident over the weekend.
IN PHOTOS: Amber Rose, Gov. Kristi Noem and more at yesterday’s walkthrough for the RNC
The Republican National Convention is coming. Here’s how to watch it
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican National Convention kicks off this week, with delegates and officials descending on Wisconsin amid the tumult that follows a Saturday attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump as he prepares to become the GOP’s official nominee.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. is seen during the Republican National Convention Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The quadrennial event in one of this cycle’s key battleground states takes place not only as Trump leads a party in lockstep behind him, but as Democrats roil over President Joe Biden’s viability and if they should replace him as their nominee.
It’s also happening as federal officials probe how a gunman was able to open fire from a rooftop near a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania, killing a bystander and critically wounding two others.
America’s toxic political climate faces calls to ‘tone it down’
By LISA MASCARO, GARY FIELDS
Activists pray for the safety of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and other politicians at Lafayette Square near the White House, July 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The shocking attempt on Trump’s life has brought into stark relief the toxic climate in America’s political life. While the details of the shooter’s motive remain unclear, the violence is a further gauge of how what was once unacceptable, if not unthinkable, in American society has become painfully commonplace.
As the 2024 election enters a crucial phase ahead of the national conventions, how the nation responds will test the first presidential contest since 2020, an election that became defined by efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
▶Read more about how the attack underscored the toxic climate in America’s political life
Biden returns to the campaign trail after using prime-time address to warn of election-year rhetoric
President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 14, 2024. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
In last night’s prime-time address, Biden noted that the Republican convention was opening in Milwaukee, while he himself would be returning to the reelection campaign trail after pausing his schedule to manage the immediate response to the attempted assassination of Trump.
Biden said he had “no doubt” that Republicans will “criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country” and promised to campaign laying out his own ideas, but said those disagreements must remain peaceful.
▶ Read more about Biden’s Oval Office address
Motive of man who tried to assassinate Trump remains elusive
A classmate of Thomas Matthew Crooks, suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, said the 20-year-old suspect was frequently bullied and sat alone at lunch time at their high school in Bethel Park, Penn. (AP Video/Terry Chea)
In the wake of the shooting that killed one spectator, investigators were hunting for any clues about what may have drove Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, to carry out the shocking attack.
The FBI said they were investigating it as a potential act of domestic terrorism, but the absence of a clear ideological motive by the man shot dead by Secret Service led conspiracy theories to flourish.
▶Read more about what we know so far about the shooter.
When does a presumptive nominee become a nominee?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 2,500 delegates are gathering in Milwaukee this week for a roll call vote to select the Republican presidential nominee, formally ending the presidential primary.
It will be a moment lacking in suspense: Former President Donald Trump has already been the presumptive nominee for months, having clinched a majority of convention delegates on March 12, but he doesn’t officially become the party’s standard-bearer until after the roll call, when delegates vote on the nominee.
▶ Read more about how Donald Trump will make it official
WATCH: Secret Service says they’ve made no changes to RNC security plan after Trump rally attack
The Secret Service says it is “confident in the security plans” for the Republican National Convention after the attack at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP video by Nathan Ellgren)
No changes yet to the convention program, but Trump says he’ll shift the focus of his speech
Yesterday, Republican Party chairman Michael Whatley said the convention’s programming would not be changed in the wake of the shooting.
The four-day agenda, he said, will feature more than 100 speakers overwhelmingly focused on kitchen-table issues and Trump’s plans to lift everyday working Americans.
Late yesterday, Trump told The Washington Examiner that he has rewritten the speech he was set to deliver in light of the attempted assassination.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” he told the news outlet in an article posted Sunday evening.
In the interview, Trump says he will now call for a new effort at national unity, noting that people from different political views have called him.
Trump vice president reveal could come as early as today
Corey Lewandowski is seen on the screen of a cellphone during a walkthrough at the 2024 Republican National Convention, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Trump will use the convention to accept his party’s nomination and also unveil his highly anticipated choice for vice president.
Some Republicans believe the pick will take on more importance than it would have otherwise given the new threats to Trump’s life.
His top three contenders are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. All three are expected to speak this week.
Assassination attempt against Trump casts cloud over RNC
People gather outside the Fiserv Forum watching news ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, July 13, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Anger and anxiety loom as thousands of Donald Trump’s loyalists are gathering for the Republican National Convention, less than 48 hours after the former president narrowly escaped an assassination attempt that rattled the very foundation of U.S. politics.
For this week, at least, the Democrats’ political crisis, the GOP’s governing agenda and even Trump’s criminal convictions become secondary to acute concerns about political violence.
The presumptive Republican nominee and his allies will face the nation during their four-day convention in Milwaukee this week unquestionably united.