Trump pledges resilience after assassination attempt at GOP convention

Donald Trump entered the stage as Lee Greenwood performed "God Bless America". A firefighter's jacket and helmet were carried onto the stage. These items belonged to firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died on Saturday during the shooting at the rally.

Trump began his speech by formally accepting the Republican Party's nomination for the presidency for the third time during the National Republican Convention in Milwaukee. "Tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination," he said.

"No matter what dangers come our way, no matter what obstacles lie in our path, we will keep striving toward our shared and glorious destiny - and we will not fail. Together, we will save this country, we will restore the Republic, and we will usher in the rich and wonderful tomorrows that our people truly deserve," said the Republican candidate.

"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 emphasized.

The former president publicly spoke about the attack on him for the first time. "I’ll tell you what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell," he emphasised. The crowd fell silent as Trump spoke about the shooting.

"I 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, and my hand was covered with blood," he recounted. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack, and in one movement, proceeded to drop to the ground."

There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side.The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin's bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be here tonight," Trump continued. In response, the crowd chanted: "Yes, you are! Yes, you are!".

"I am not supposed to be here tonight," said Trump, adding that "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God. Many people say it was a providential moment."

"When I rose, surrounded by Secret Service, the crowd was confused because they thought I was dead. And there was great, great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked out. They didn’t know I was looking out; they thought it was over. But I could see it and I wanted to do something to let them know I was OK. I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, 'Fight, fight, fight,'" said Trump. The crowd then began to repeat after him.

Trump also honoured the memory of Corey Comperatore with a moment of silence, then approached the items on stage and kissed them. "He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets," Trump said.

Trump promised that after Saturday's shooting, "nothing will stop him in this mission, because our vision is righteous and our cause is pure".

"No matter what obstacle comes our way, we will not break. We will not bend. We will not back down, and I will never stop fighting for you, your family and our magnificent country. Never," he added.

"War is now raging in Europe and the Middle East, a growing specter of conflict hangs over Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and all of Asia, and our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III, and this will be a war like no other war because of weaponry," Trump said.

"I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created, including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine, which would have never happened if I was president," he promised.

Trump called on the Democrats to stop the "partisan witch hunts" against him. As an example, he mentioned that on Monday, a judge in Florida dismissed his case regarding classified documents.

"If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts, which I’ve been going through for approximately eight years. And they should do that without delay and allow an election to proceed that is worthy of our people. We’re going to win it anyway," Trump said.

He also said that the Democratic Party "should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy."

He emphasized that members of his family have received subpoenas from Congress. "Every week, they get another subpoena from the Democrats. Crazy Nancy Pelosi, the whole thing. Just boom, boom, boom," said the Republican candidate.