The former president walked into the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee to an uproarious response on Monday, his ear heavily bandaged from having been grazed by a bullet, hours after he was officially nominated to be the party's 2024 standard-bearer.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the crowd chanted while pumping their fists, a reference to Trump's own response in the moments after he was wounded on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One supporter was killed. The gunman was shot dead on a roof and his motive remains unclear.
The former president appeared moved by the crowd's response and mouthed the words "thank you" before settling into a box alongside members of his family and Senator JD Vance, Trump's choice for running mate announced earlier on Monday.
Trump is due to formally accept the party's nomination in a prime-time speech on Thursday and will face Democratic President Joe Biden, 81, in the November 5 election.
During the evening session, one speaker after another blamed Biden's economic policies for inflation that has kept prices higher, even as it has eased sharply since peaking in June 2022 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic which began in 2020.
Senator Tim Scott, who briefly ran against Trump for the nomination, said divine intervention spared Trump's life.
"Our God still saves," Scott said. "He still delivers and he still sets free. Because on Saturday the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared!"
Vance, 39, was a fierce Trump critic in 2016 but has since become one of the former president's staunchest defenders, embracing his false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud.
Vance is deeply popular with Trump's core supporters, but it remains to be seen whether he can broaden the ticket's appeal. He shares Trump's aggressive approach to politics, and his conservative statements on issues such as abortion could turn off moderate voters.
Soon after Trump's afternoon announcement, Vance emerged on the convention floor with his wife Usha, shaking hands with and hugging delegates who swarmed the couple. He is scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday.
Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that Vance is "a clone of Trump on the issues," while Democrats assailed Vance's record on reproductive rights.
Opinion polls show a close race between Trump and Biden, though Trump leads in several swing states that are likely to decide the election. Trump has not committed to accepting the results of the election if he loses.
The head of the main fundraising super PAC supporting Trump's campaign, Taylor Budowich, said on X that MAGA Inc had raised more than US$50 million (NZ$82.5m).
Billionaire Elon Musk is planning to donate around $US45 million a month to a new pro-Trump super PAC, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with his intentions. Musk endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt on Saturday.
"The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would've been two days ago," Trump told the Washington Examiner.
Monday began with yet another in a string of recent legal victories for Trump, when US District Judge Aileen Cannon threw out federal charges accusing him of retaining classified documents after leaving the White House. The Justice Department says it will appeal.
Trump is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.
But his other two indictments on federal charges in Washington and state charges in Georgia - both related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat - are mired in delays and could be significantly limited after the US. Supreme Court ruled in July that he had immunity for many of his official acts as president.
"This dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts," Trump said on Truth Social on Monday, also referencing the prosecutions of hundreds of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in 2021.
'NO PLACE FOR VIOLENCE'
The assassination attempt, followed by the Republican convention, has pushed Biden to the background after weeks of speculation about whether he might drop out of the race due to concerns about his age and acuity following a halting June 27 debate performance in Atlanta.
Biden again rejected the notion on Monday when pressed by NBC's Lester Holt, focusing instead on the myriad falsehoods Trump unleashed during the debate. The president has stepped up his unscripted appearances to try to demonstrate his capability but has yet to assuage some Democrats' fears about his re-election chances.
Nearly two dozen of Biden's fellow Democrats in Congress have called on him to end his re-election bid and allow the party to pick another standard bearer.
The focus this week will be squarely on Trump.
Having consolidated party control, Trump could seize on the opportunity to deliver a unifying message or paint a dark portrait of a nation under siege by a corrupt leftist elite, as he has done at times on the campaign trail.
He has frequently turned to violent rhetoric in campaign speeches, labelling his perceived enemies as "vermin" and "fascists."
Biden has cast Trump as a threat to US democracy, comments that some Republicans say helped foster an atmosphere that prompted the shooting even though authorities have yet to determine the motive for the assassination attempt.
Following Saturday's shooting, Biden sought to lower the temperature after months of heated political rhetoric.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalised," he said of the assassination attempt in a televised address from the White House on Sunday.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Biden said it was a "mistake" to tell donors last week it was "time to put Trump in the bullseye" but noted that Trump has often used incendiary words.
Investigators say they have been unable to identify an ideology that may have inspired 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to shoot at Trump from a rooftop outside the campaign event in Pennsylvania.
Biden ordered an independent review of how the gunman, who was shot dead by agents, could have come so close to killing Trump. Congressional investigators were also due to question the head of the US Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the former president.
Republicans attending the party's convention said they were not inclined to reassess the party's traditional opposition to firearms restrictions.
“If someone runs someone over with a car, they don’t ban cars," said Melanie Collette, a delegate from New Jersey. "If someone stabs somebody, they don’t ban knives."
