5 takeaways from Trump's Republican convention acceptance speech

Donald Trump points into the crowd from the stage

Staff Writer

July 18, 2024 9:28 PM PT

WASHINGTON — Former President Trump delivered his formal acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, another step in an unprecedented campaign.

Here is what was notable from his remarks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee:

A brief tonal shift

Trump began his speech with a subdued tone, reading from a teleprompter, something he once said should be illegal for presidential candidates. It made a difference at first. The divisive Trump from his rallies and news conferences was replaced, early in his speech, by a uniter.

“I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” he said.

“Whether you’re young or old, man or woman, Democrat, Republican or independent, Black or white, Asian or Hispanic, I extend to you a hand of loyalty and of friendship,” he said at another point.

It didn’t last.

Trump entered politics with false claims about then-President Obama’s birthplace — alleging the first Black president was born abroad — and rallied supporters in the 2016 campaign with chants of “lock her up!” against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

As president, Trump almost always governed with his base in mind, while castigating “haters and losers,” even in holiday tweets. His 2017 inaugural speech painted a dark portrait of “American carnage.”

As a candidate, he has continued to use coarse language, calling migrants “vermin” who are “poisoning” American blood, warning of a “bloodbath” for the auto industry if he is not elected.

As Thursday’s speech wore on, the gentler tone melted away and he accused his opponents of cheating in elections — an unfounded claim — said that other countries were “sending their murderers to the United States of America,” and said his opponents were creating “a planet of war.”

‘It’s actually too painful to tell’

Trump spoke for the first and what he said would be the only time about what happened when “the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life” at last weekend’s rally in Pennsylvania.

He was “very lucky” because he was starting to turn his head and paused before he heard “a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear.”

“I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet.’ And moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down. My hand was covered with blood,” he said.

Trump praised the rally crowd for not fleeing the scene and the Secret Service agents, who have come under scrutiny for security lapses, for protecting him and killing the would-be assassin.

Crediting God for saving him, he said, “I’m not supposed to be here tonight.”

“Yes, you are!” the crowd chanted back.

Trump then walked across the stage to a helmet and uniform with the name of Corey Comperatore, a retired firefighter killed in the attack, to pay his respects.

The moment was powerful and also a reminder of how large a role the events are now playing in Trump’s campaign. Speakers talked about the tragedy throughout the four-day convention, often speaking about Trump’s survival as an act of divine intervention.

Taking aim at the ‘Democrat Party’

President Biden and other Democrats are running in part on the idea that Trump is a threat to democracy, largely because he spurred an angry mob to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and still refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election.

He is also the first felon to win a major party nomination — still facing additional charges — and has pledged to be a dictator on his first day and called for suspension of the Constitution.

But Trump is now blaming the Democratic Party for disunity and continued to make that case Thursday.

“We must not criminalize, demonize political disagreement,” he said. “In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy.”

Pledging mass deportations

“I call it an invasion,” Trump said, speaking of illegal immigration.

Immigration is a top issue for Trump and his base. Some Republican delegates have held up “Mass Deportation Now!” signs. Trump renewed his promise to enact the largest deportation operation in American history.

“Today, our cities are flooded with illegal aliens,” he said. “Americans are being squeezed out of the labor force.”

Unemployment is actually fairly low, 4.1%. But border arrests have reached record highs under Biden.

“They’re coming from prisons. They’re coming from jails. They’re coming from mental institutions,” Trump said of the migrants.

Immigration is a top issue for many voters, but Trump’s inflammatory language could alienate moderates and energize Democrats. Research shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

Policy agenda: Reverse Biden

Trump, as usual, did not outline policies in depth. But he promised tax cuts, tariffs and to “drill, baby, drill.”

Mostly, he made clear he wants to reverse many of Biden’s policies, especially those intended to push the country toward electric vehicles to stave off climate change.

“We will redirect that money for important projects like roads, bridges, dams, and we will not allow it to be spent on meaningless green new scam ideas, and I will end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1,” he said.

He also promised to alter almost all of Biden’s foreign policy, claiming Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were president and that Hamas would not have attacked Israel.