RNC convention opens with Trump’s stamp on the party on full display

Monday arrived with one major unanswered question, which was the name of Trump’s vice-presidential running mate. But early in the afternoon, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had selected Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a one-time critic who has emerged as one of the most outspoken voices on behalf of Trump’s populist, America First agenda, as his choice.

But both Rubio and Burgum were informed they would not be chosen, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks. That left the spotlight on Vance, who more than the other two articulate Trump’s views and posture.

Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., increased security concerns at an already locked-down city and has the potential to alter the tone of the convention itself. Trump issued a statement early Monday that he had decided to change his Thursday acceptance speech to focus on unity rather than attacks on President Biden.

But party officials indicated no major changes were planned for the already well-scripted convention. The schedule includes three nights of programming designed to prosecute the case against Biden and his policies on the economy, inflation, immigration and safety. Monday evening’s prime-time program is titled, “Make America Wealthy, Again.”

Monday’s schedule included the roll call of the states resulting in the formal nomination of Trump as the party’s presidential standard-bearer for the third time in as many elections, ratifying his easy string of victories during the Republican primaries. The convention will demonstrate, if there was any doubt before, that Trump has totally remade the Republican Party in his own image and around the issues and policies he favors.

The party platform, which was formally adopted Monday, downplays the issue of abortion when compared with past platforms and reflects other themes favored by Trump that do not necessarily square with the conservative posture of past years.

Even before the nearly 2,500 delegates could take their seats in the Fiserv Forum, the convention arena, Trump was delivered a major victory when Judge Aileen M. Cannon dismissed the indictment against him in the classified documents case brought by Justice Department special prosecutor Jack Smith.

The ruling was the latest in a series of legal victories for Trump, including a decision by the Supreme Court saying that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official acts.

The convention comes during a month in which the former president has seen events play to his advantage, and his campaign’s hope is that they can create momentum heading out of the convention at the end of the week.

Biden’s faltering performance at the first presidential debate in Atlanta last month created turmoil in the Democratic Party and weeks of discussion about whether the incumbent should step aside in favor of some other candidate who might have a better chance of winning in November.

The Democratic drama took attention away from Trump’s debate performance, which was replete with lies and distorted statements, and gave him the opportunity to stay out of the limelight while the Democrats argued among themselves. This week will mark his full reemergence and comes after the shocking shooting at his rally on Saturday and his show of defiance, his arm raised, his fist clenched, as he was led to safety by Secret Service agents.

Trump arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday night. People with knowledge of his activities said he had dinner with one of his donors, and aides reported that he was in good spirits, despite the shooting that left his right ear bloodied, a member of the audience dead, two others wounded and the suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, dead at the hands of the Secret Service.

The former president told journalist Salena Zito, who was close to where the shooting took place on Saturday, that he had decided to change his acceptance speech as a result of the shooting. “Had this not happened, we had a speech that was pretty well set that was extremely tough,” he said. “Now, we have a speech that is more unifying,”

Security remained a major issue on the convention’s first day. Secret Service officials said Sunday that they were not changing their security blueprint, which they said had been the result of 18 months of planning. Local officials said Milwaukee this week would probably be one of the safest places on the planet. Still, after what happened in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the potential for unexpected problems was clearly on the minds of many.

The most secure zone in downtown Milwaukee, which includes the convention center, the media filing center and other buildings, showed a heavy presence of law enforcement officials, many from out of state. Convention attendees, from production workers to volunteers to members of the media, faced long lines as they tried to enter into the secure zone Monday morning.

Secret Service officials continued to come under criticism for what appeared to be security lapses on Saturday that allowed the shooter access to the roof of a building with a line of sight to the stage where Trump was speaking.

One sign of how much Trump has changed the party came in the 2024 platform. Trump campaigned in 2016 with a pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, which for decades guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide.

He made good on that pledge with three conservative nominees, who overturned Roe in 2022. But after that decision, voters repeatedly supported abortion rights referendums, even in red states, prompting Trump and many other Republicans to back away from the idea of national restrictions.

The new GOP platform drops the call for a “human life amendment” and frames abortion as an issue for states to regulate — though Democrats note it still leaves the door open to banning abortion under the 14th Amendment.

The new platform — which Trump personally reviewed and edited, according to advisers — also abandons the old document’s opposition to same-sex marriage, saying only that “Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage.”

The platform was approved last week by a vote of 84-14, but some pro-life conservatives were dismayed by the shift in language.

Trump campaign and Republican National Committee officials said that the evening programming, in addition to the customary speeches by GOP elected officials, would feature ordinary Americans whose personal stories exemplified the themes of the week, principally what they argued was the pain caused by the policies of the Biden administration.