Former President threatens ‘largest deportation’ in US history – as it happened | Republican national convention 2024

Trump promises ‘the largest deportation operation in the history of our country’

Trump is now on his familiar, hardline immigration rhetoric, noting that the GOP platform proposes “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country”.

Earlier, he had hypothesized that crime is dropping in Central American countries like El Salvador because “they’re sending their murders to the United States of America”.

He noted that his deportations would be “even larger than that of president Dwight D Eisenhower from many years ago. You know, he was a moderate but he believed very strongly in borders. He had the largest deportation operation we’ve ever had.”

Here’s more about Trump’s deportation plans:

Key events

This blog is now closing, thanks for following along. You can read my colleague Sam Levine’s story on Trump’s RNC speech here:

The speech didn’t win over everyone the AP spoke to at a bar in Milwaukee:

“I don’t think he sounds any different than he did before the assassination attempt,” said John Frank, a 25–year-old designer in Milwaukee and self-described libertarian.

Frank said he does not plan to vote in November but nonetheless met up with a friend to watch the speech because “we didn’t want to miss something big happening in Milwaukee.”

All week, Max Bradshaw, the bar’s general manager, said he’s noticed a softened tone in Trump and other party leaders after the attempted assassination. Bradshaw declined to give his own view of Trump and said there’s a diversity of political beliefs among his staff, “but this whole week everybody’s been neutral.”

“It seems like we’re all coming a little bit more together, so regardless of what’s happening politically, I still feel more togetherness right now,” he said. “I’m very happy about that.”

Outside the pub Liam Stanton, 29, said he feels increasingly out of place in America’s two-party system, calling both parties “pathetic.” He described himself as a Bernie Sanders supporter who in previous presidential elections has voted for both Republicans and, once, a Democrat.

Despite agreeing with the Democratic Party’s “pro-immigrant views,” Stanton said he plans to vote for Trump. He sees President Joe Biden as “incoherent” and out-of-touch.

Still, Stanton wasn’t impressed by Trump’s speech and said he only attended the convention because a friend had free guest passes.

“I was hoping he would be spicier, to be honest with you,” Stanton said.

The AP has spoken to a handful of Trump supporters who watched the speech at a pub.

Here is what they had to say:

“He’s much improved,” said Dave Struthers, a 57-year-old farmer from Collins, Iowa, after watching the beginning of Trump‘s speech in the basement of his farmhouse. “It’s more of a conversation with the American people, rather than yelling at them.”

The more muted delivery at the outset was enough to get Trump a second look from Erich Hazen, a 32-year-old art teacher in Milwaukee, who described himself as a longtime Democrat who supports abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. He said he’s now considering a vote for Trump in November — surprising even himself.

“I feel like he’s calmed things down a bit more,” Hazen said. “Now that he’s a little more reserved, it’s making me feel more comfortable.”

“I’m normally not undecided, so this is a little bit strange for me,” he added. “But what I’ve seen from the other side hasn’t been impressive at all. He’s at least making coherent sentences.”

Jennifer Ryan Garnica, 52, who owns a store that sells Trump merchandise in Seal Beach, California, said she noticed an uptick in traffic in her store during the speech and thought people found it inspiring. She said the attempt on Trump’s life was an emotional experience for her and a change in tone was desperately needed.

“Our country has become so divided that we wish ill will on each other,” Garnica said.

It turns out there is a time limit on speeches even for Trump supporters at the RNC.

For all the fire and brimstone in his often off-script speech, as it neared the 90 minute mark, several journalists who were there noted that people were beginning to talk amongst themselves, look at their phones, or leave.

The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland wrote, “Overheard in the Georgia delegation: “Do you think he’s winding up soon?” Some folks are beginning to talk among themselves.”

The New York Times’ Maya King said, “The seats toward the top of the arena are slowly starting to empty out as Trump nears the 90-minute mark of his speech” and the Atlantic’s Tim Alberta Tweeted:

I’m standing 10 feet from the stage, in a sea of diehards, and some are getting restless. Checking phones, stealing glances at the teleprompter, whispering about when it will be over. pic.twitter.com/7Y7qDfH5fs

— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) July 19, 2024

Trump chose Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White to introduce him before his speech. That’s a sharp departure from the typical choice of a family member or prominent politician, the Associated Press reports.

In January 2023, White admitted to slapping his wife, Anne, on New Year’s Eve, after he was captured doing so in video released by TMZ.

Trump is a longtime friend of White and frequently attends UFC fights. His chief spokesman, Steven Cheung, used to work for UFC, and his campaign has used Trump’s appearances at the combat sport to try to appeal to younger, male voters.

In 2016 and 2020, Trump was introduced at the GOP conventions by his daughter Ivanka Trump, who has distanced herself from her father’s political ambitions since he left office and did not speak this year.

Key takeaways from Trump’s speech and the RNC

Lois Beckett

If you’re just tuning in, here are the key takeaways from Trump’s RNC speech.

Trump talked about his assassination attempt for the first, and he said, final time. Like many his supporters, Trump said he believed he had been protected by God last weekend, but he also emphasized how moved he had been by the behavior of his supporters when he was shot. When faced with a hail of bullets, he said, most crowds would have panicked and tried to flee, but his did not. “For the rest of my life,” Trump said, “I will be grateful for the love shown by that giant audience of patriots that stood bravely on the fateful evening in Pennsylvania.”
Trump may be ‘changed’ after the assassination attempt, but he didn’t sound that changed. In the early minutes of his speech, Trump delivered some of the “unity” rhetoric that he told journalists he had planned. “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” Trump said. “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.” But soon after the somber beginning to his “unity” speech, Trump turned cheerful and chatty, first praising his friends, and then, soon enough, railing in a familiar way against “crazy Nancy Pelosi”, calling Biden one of America’s worst presidents, and then, to cheers, referring to Covid once again as the “China virus”.
The Republican convention is a mirror world: ‘I am the one saving democracy,’ Trump says. Republican politicians kept reciting the names of women who have been raped or sexually assaulted by immigrants, while blaming the Democratic party’s immigration policies for putting them at risk. They didn’t talk about Trump being found liable of sexual abuse in a civil trial brought by the magazine writer E Jean Carroll, or the allegations of sexual misconduct he has faced from more than two dozen women. Biden and Harris were called criminals, rather than the candidate who has been convicted on 34 felony charges.
Trump again pledges to carry out the largest deportation in US history. Before Trump spoke, other Republican politicians devoted large swathes of time during their convention to demonizing undocumented migrants, blaming them for a host of social ills, and advocating not just for a border wall but also “Mass deportations now.”
Trump promises ‘two things on day one’ … ‘Close our borders’ and ‘drill, baby, drill!”. Trump also joined other Republicans throughout the week in touting the GOP as the party of fossil fuel, as Republicans repeatedly chanted: “Drill, baby, drill!” Climate change experts and activists have said that both Trump and his vice presidential pick, JD Vance, are likely to pursue a “methodical” climate crisis denial presidency that would include increasing production of fossil fuel, ignoring mainstream climate science and undermining or overturning rules to reduce emissions.

Lois Beckett

For all the claims from his supporters that surviving an assassination attempt had left Donald Trump a “changed” man, one more softened and spiritual, the Trump who accepted his party’s nomination on Thursday night was deeply familiar: same divisive rhetoric, same divisive policies.

But the Republican crowd that surrounded Trump was certainly cheerful and energized. “I have never been to a more fun convention, or a convention with better vibes,” the ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson told them, and his unscripted comments seemed to capture a real mood. Biden and the Democrats are foundering, Trump narrowly survived a terrifying attack, and Republicans appear to believe that Trump has already won the election.

California House Representative Jim Costa also calls for Biden to step aside

California House Representative Jim Costa has also called on Biden to step aside, the Hill reports.

“I am proud of the work we have done to pass monumental legislation that is leading to the first real investments in our communities in decades,” he said in a statement late on Thursday, “But for the good of the country, I think it is time for the President to pass the torch to the next generation to carry on the legacy he started.”

Democrat Senator Jon Tester calls for Biden to step aside

Senator Jon Tester, who faces a challenging reelection battle in Montana this year, on Thursday became the second senator to publicly call on Biden to drop out.

“I have worked with President Biden when it has made Montana stronger, and I’ve never been afraid to stand up to him when he is wrong,” Tester said in a statement.

“And while I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I believe President Biden should not seek re-election to another term,” he added.

Meanwhile Democratic US Senator John Hickenlooper told Reuters Biden has, “done what’s best for America … I think he’ll keep doing so,” adding, “He’s working towards that.” Hickenlooper declined to say whether he believed Biden should step aside as a candidate.

Sam Levine

Donald Trump recounted the attempt on his life in dramatic detail as he formally accepted the Republican nomination for president on Thursday evening in Milwaukee in a speech that began with a call for unity and then turned into meandering attacks on his political rivals.

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said to an electrified crowd at the Fiserv Forum. Speaking in a subdued, quiet tone, Trump called his survival a “providential moment” and said: “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God.”

“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 at the start of his speech, which lasted around 91 minutes. He was interrupted by chants of “Fight! Fight! Fight!” from the audience.

Trump went on to kiss the helmet and embrace the uniform of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was killed as he shielded his family as Trump was shot at in Butler Township, Pennsylvania.

But that tone ended shortly after.

Trump went on to attack Democrats over the numerous criminal cases that he faces. “The Democrat party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponents as an enemy of democracy, especially since that is not true,” he said.

“If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch-hunts.”

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison: last four days saw ‘far right and dangerous’ vision endorsed by speakers

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison has issued his take on the last night of the RNC, saying that, “In Trump’s Republican Party, there’s only space for unquestioning loyalists who will put him above our democracy, above our freedoms, and above working families”.

He said the vision endorsed by speakers over the course of the last four days was “far-right and dangerous” and repeated a claim –which as far as I can tell is wording that comes from the Daily Beast’s Andy Levy – that Trump and Vance are “the most extreme running mates in modern American history”:

“This week, convicted felon Donald Trump reminded the American people why they voted him out of office four years ago – because he doesn’t care about working families, he only cares about himself. In Trump’s Republican Party, there’s only space for unquestioning loyalists who will put him above our democracy, above our freedoms, and above working families. That’s why Trump chose JD Vance to be his running mate, and it’s why Trump’s former vice president – who he tried to get to overturn the election – was nowhere to be found this week in Milwaukee.

“Over the past four days, we’ve seen speakers endorse a far-right, dangerous vision that would see Americans’ basic liberties stripped away and replace the rule of law with the rule of Trump. No amount of desperate spin can change how unpopular and out of touch their disastrous plans are for the American people.

“Trump and Vance are running on the dangerous Project 2025 agenda to put tax cuts for billionaires above lowering costs for working people, outlaw abortion and threaten other basic rights, and put our democracy at risk. The more voters learn about the Trump-Vance ticket – the most extreme running mates in modern American history – the more fired up they are to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris this November.”

Biden and Harris statement

The Biden-Harris campaign has released a statement responding to Trump’s speech, in which it starts by saying Trump “rambled on for well over an hour”.

Trump also “failed to mention Project 2025 even once”, and lists several of the ideas reportedly included in Project 2025, the Conservative guide for a second term. He also did not mention overturning Roe v Wade, the statement says.

Here is our explainer on Project 2025. The document outlining the plan in 900 pages “showcases a federal government that cracks down intensely on immigration, vanquishes LGBTQ+ and abortion rights, diminishes environmental protections, overhauls financial policy and takes aggressive action against China.”

Biden is “running for an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it”, the Biden-Harris statement says.

Here is the full statement:

Tonight, Donald Trump rambled on for well over an hour and failed to mention Project 2025 even once. He failed to mention how he had inflicted pain and cruelty on the women of America by overturning Roe v Wade. He failed to mention his plan to take over the civil service and to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. He sought to find problems with America, not to provide solutions. But after all, it was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, ripped away rights, and failed middle class families. Now he pursues the presidency with an even more extreme vision for where he wants to take this country. Trump’s Project 2025 agenda is the single biggest attack on our personal freedoms and way of life ever proposed in modern American history.

President Biden is running on a different vision. He’s running for an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it. Where we restore our rights and protect our freedoms, not take them away. One where we create opportunities for everyone, while making the super wealthy finally pay their fair share. That is the future President Biden believes in and is the future that millions of our fellow Americans believe in too. The stakes have never been higher. The choice has never been more clear. President Biden is more determined than ever to defeat Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda in November.”

What is the chart Donald Trump credits with ‘saving his life’?

In Trump’s first interview after the attempted assassination, he claimed that his life has been saved by a screen he was looking at (he has also claimed that he was saved by God). He never looked at a screen, he told the Conservative news outlet the Washington Examiner, because always kept his focus on the audience. But in this case he was talking about some data displayed on the screen – in a chart that made another appearance tonight.

He repeated that claim tonight as he stood in front of a projection of the white house with the chart in question blown up and displayed on several screens behind him.

The chart was shown to Trump by Republican Senator Ron Johnson, from Wisconsin.

The chart claims to show a dramatic dip in migration during Trump’s presidency.

Poynter’s PolitiFact has fact checked the chart. What it actually shows is the number of border encounters, with arrows misleadingly placed as if to indicate a fall during Trump’s presidency, when what the dip in the chart actually shows is a fall in border encounters during the Covid Pandemic.

Trump also used the chart at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin on 2 April.

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump gives his RNC speech in Milwaukee. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Johnson told Fox news, according to PolitiFact, “that he had been developing the chart since 2014. He showed it to Trump before the Green Bay rally and Trump’s team made some changes and it has been using it ever since”.

The original chart showed “monthly southwest border encounters at and between ports of entry from 2012 to 2024, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection data,” PolitiFact reports.

Those monthly figures seem to be accurate, it says, though exact numbers aren’t shown on Johnson’s graph.

The chart also says, next to a black arrow pointing to the peak shown in the graphic, “Biden world record illegal immigrants, many from prisons and mental institutions, also terrorists. Nothing like this has ever happened to our country before!”

“Immigration experts have told PolitiFact that there is no evidence that people released from prisons or mental institutions are coming to the U.S. in large numbers,” the organisation writes.

PolitiFact reports:

At the chart’s bottom, a big red arrow points to April 2020, when immigrant encounters at the southwest border dipped to 17,110.

Words next to the arrow read, “Trump leaves office. Lowest illegal immigration in recorded history.”

“So, that’s when I left office,” Trump told the crowd shortly before the shooting, pointing out the chart’s red arrow. “That arrow is the lowest amount of illegal immigration ever in recorded history into our country. And then, the worst president in the history of our country took over and look what happened to our country.”

But the arrow points to a decline in immigration encounters at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when migration overall significantly dropped as nations imposed lockdowns. Trump left office nine months later, when Biden took over Jan. 20, 2021. Recorded encounters at the southwest border rose each month after April 2020, reaching 73,990 in December, Trump’s last full month in office.

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Former President threatens ‘largest deportation’ in US history – as it happened | Republican national convention 2024

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