Republican National Convention diary day 4: Donald Trump strikes dark tone in biggest speech of his life, promising to 'restore law and order'

Nick Allen has been speaking to delegates, including several from Texas, and they loved Mr Trump's speech.

Brittany Divver, 18, a delegate from Texas wearing a cowboy hat, said she suported Texas senator Ted Cruz in the primaries, but now she was for Trump.

She said: "It was big mistake Ted Cruz made not endorsing Trump, he may have ruined his career in politics. He's not going to be able to come back to the stage at a convention.

"I think Ted Cruz showed his true colours this week. I can't support someone who can't swallow his own pride for the good of the party."

Leo Vasquez, 50, another Texas delegate, said: "Mr Cruz needs to learn some humility."

Connor Price, 18, a delegate from Dallas, where the mass shooting of police officers happened earlier this month, said: "I loved the speech. I liked the fact that he hammered he was going to lay down the law. He unified the party and he spoke to everyone."

Jeff Hazelwood, a local police chief from Tennessee, said: "It was perfect. It had everything I wanted to hear and it was delivered perfectly as well. My favourite thing he talked about was safety because that's near and dear to my heart.

"We have seen an uptick in crime recently. The current administration keeps trying to tie that to gun ownership but that's absurd."

George Harrison's estate has said the use of Here Comes the Sun to introduce Ivanka Trump at tonight's convention was unauthorised and offensive. 

That probably won't stop Mr Trump from using it, as the Rolling Stones objected to the property mogul using their songs and...

David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, has already caused trouble for the Trump campaign.

Mr Trump was pilloried for refusing to disown Mr Duke's support and that of other white supremacists, though he eventually changed course and did so.

But though he may be unwelcome, Mr Duke has stuck by Mr Trump and liked what he had to hear today.

 

There is a festive atmosphere in the hall now, as thousands of balloons fall from the rafters and fireworks ring out over Cleveland.

But Mr Trump's speech was anything but celebratory. As a speechwriter for George HW Bush said, it portrayed America as a "dark and terrifying place".

Our own Ruth Sherlock calls  it Putin-esque.

 It is designed to whip the audience into handwringing fear about the state of the nation. Reading of reams of dangers for the American people - shootings, terror attacks - it is a declaration of a nation careering towards ruin. 

"Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation," he says. 

It is hyperbolic, declaring imminent disaster: "The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life."

But somehow, amid all this violence and ruin there one man can save America: Donald Trump

Donald Trump spoke for an hour and 15 minutes, surpassing the lengths of every convention acceptance speech in modern history.

He ends with variations on his campaign's central theme: Make America Great Again

Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and current human rights activist, has weighed in on Mr Trump's speech:

 Those in the hall seem to be more enthusiastic:

Ivanka Trump described a hopeful, optimistic and caring man as she took the stage in the penultimate speech of the convention.

She talked about issues like helping families get affordable childcare, and closing the gender wage gap. Those issues, she said, were near and dear to her father's heart.

When Donald Trump took the stage, though, he did not resemble the man she described. His speech is powered by fear - of terrorism, of immigration, of China, of what life will look like if anyone but him is elected president.

This speech may be effective, but it is certainly not uplifting.

Mr Trump has just devoted a large portion of his speech to illegal immigration, in particular to the idea that American citizens are being killed by people in the country illegally.

"We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration. To stop the gangs, to stop the violence and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities."

No mention thus far of who will pay for the wall...

Mr Trump vowed to protect LGBTQ individuals, and expressed sympathy for the difficulties they face.

"As your president I will do everything I can to protect the LGBTQ community," he says. "Believe me."

"As a Republican it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said." 

That comment follows a standing ovation for Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire who spoke earlier tonight.

"Third Word", "corrupt", and "dangerous". Donald Trump has used those three words in discussing modern America, and many more like them.

This picture about sums up the tone of the night:

Donald Trump just delivered one of the big lines of the night, and the only one to appear all in capitals in the leaked transcript.

"I AM YOUR VOICE!" he shouts.

Shortly after, the speech is interrupted by a protester. Mr Trump waits patiently and then says:

"How great are our police, and how great is Cleveland!"

Back to the script. I have watched Mr Trump speak many times over the past year, and never seen him this focused. 

Donald Trump has stayed right on message for far in his speech, only diverting from his script to repeat phrases for emphasis. 

Moments ago he faced his first big test of the night, as his supporters began to chant "lock her up!" during an attack on Hillary Clinton.

It has been a constant refrain throughout the convention, and one that many Republican strategists worry will turn off moderate voters.

But Mr Trump, who has called repeatedly for Mrs Clinton to be jailed, waved the chant off! 

"Let's defeat her in November," he said, and the chants turned to "USA! USA!"

Mr Trump's daughter was the last of his children to appear on the convention stage.

"My father has styled himself as the people's champion and tonight he is the people's nominee," she said.

"This is the moment and Donald Trump is the person to Make America Great Again.

"Real change is only going to come from outside the system.

"My father is a fighter - when the primaries got tough - and they were tough - he dug deeper and got stronger."

She provided her father with a warm, and well received introduction.

As Donald Trump announces his acceptance of the Republican nomination the atmosphere in the floor was surprisingly mixed. Most seemed to have forgotten their opposition - but not all. A contingent booed as loudly as they could. Their voices were heard enough to prompt calls  from Trump supporters of "USA! USA!" - the chant now used to drown out opposition.

This is a moment in history. But it is not one unanimously heralded. Amid the cries of support there is also trepidation. In electing Trump they have chosen a rogue bull. And even his fans cannot predict where this moment will lead.

 

Doubtful if John, Paul, George and Ringo would approve.

Probably the first relatively well-known celebrity to have made an appearance here in Cleveland - but only by a video address.

Jon Voight praises Mr Trump's "drive and determination" in creating his New York real estate empire, "transforming the skyline of New York".

 

If the speech we're going to get is the one that's been leaked then it's a good speech. Strong, well structured and stuffed with facts. It focuses on law and order with devastating clarity - raising questions that Hillary Clinton must answer next week, Tim Stanley writes. 

Arguably, its representation of the world isn't entirely accurate. Crime has broadly been falling. Terrorism is a terrible worry, but the US does not let any old migrant from Syria through the door. 

Nevertheless, it is true that America is economically worse off than it was 10 years ago, while there's a growing perception that society has divided. How ironic that black lives matter might be the trigger that puts Trump in the White House.

The GOP chairman has Reince Priebus has called the Democratic Party the "party of the same old thing".

He claimed Democrats will "trot out the same old Democrats with the same old message running the same old candidate" at next week's Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

He calls the Republican Party "the party of new ideas".

 

 

 

"President Lincoln stood in this very city 150 years ago with the call to bind together in union," Governor Mary Fallin has said at the Republican convention, Ruth Sherlock reports.

Well, Mr Lincoln tonight has risen from the dead and returned to see Donald Trump become his party's nominee.

I had a chat with the iconic leader and found to my surprise that he supports Mr Trump.

The new Lincoln, also known as George Engelbach, a delegate from Missouri, said the mark of a good man are his children and, he said: "Trump has good kids".

"My wife and I have raised three great kids. They don't cuss or swear and they work hard," he explained. "I learned you don't raise kids by beating on them or giving them orders. You have to live the life like you want them to. Donald Trump lived that life."

 

A police officer treated for skin irritation came into contact with a sticker in Cleveland's downtown Public Square during protests surrounding the Republican National Convention.

Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia (chach) said a second police officer was also treated for skin irritation that didn't involve a sticker.

Ciaccia said officers were investigating and urging people not to take stickers from people they don't know.

Ciaccia says police continue to monitor convention protests.

 

Mr Trump's speech was due to be delivered to a television audience of tens of millions at the end of a fractious convention notable for a lack of policy details.

The billionaire hoped it would give him a boost in opinion polls ahead of the Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia next week.

His speech was expected to set the tone for the next three months of campaigning ahead of the general election on Nov 8.

In it Mr Trump called himself the "law and order candidate".

He also vowed to pursue an "America First" foreign policy, placing US interests above all else.

Mr Trump said other nations would treat the United States with "respect" if he was president.

On the issue of immigration he did not refer to a "ban on Muslims".

But he said: "Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.

"We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place."

Mr Trump said he had joined the poltical arena "so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves" and vowed to govern for all Americans.

He said: "Every action I take, I will ask myself, does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child in America."

Donald Trump vowed to be the "voice" of struggling Americans as he accepted the nomination of the Republican Party for President of the United States, Nick Allen writes.

The billionaire said he would "fight and win" for the American people, according to a draft of his speech released shortly before he took the stage at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Mr Trump described visiting laid-off factory workers, communities crushed by bad trade deals, and how he had embraced crying mothers who had lost their children.

He said: "These are the forgotten men and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice. My pledge reads 'Im with you, the American people. I am your voice'."

"I'm with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you."

He added: "Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.

"I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens."

The billionaire said "safety would be restored" on the streets of America beginning on his inauguration day. After detailing the recent shooting of police officers in Dallas, Texas, he said: "I have a message for all of you. The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end."

In appeals to the middle class he promised to deliver simpler taxes and less regulation which would bring "trillions of dollars flowing into our country" to build roads, bridges and airports, and create millions of jobs. He also vowed to "rescue kids from failing schools".

The property mogul said America was far less safe because Hillary Clinton had been in charge of foreign policy as Secretary of State and balmed her for the spread of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

He added: "Hillary Clinton's legacy does not have to be America’s legacy. She left a legacy of death, destruction and weakness."

 

Here's how Mr Trump will open tonight's speech, based on a leaked draft:

Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order. Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims. I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored.

Sound checks, a rock band playing 'Make America Great Again' and delegates mingling. 

 

Luciano Pavarotti's family is unhappy that Donald Trump's campaign has played one of his signature arias, Nessun Dorma.

Nicoletta Mantovani Pavarotti, and other family members reportedly issued a statement saying the "values of brotherhood and solidarity" that Pavarotti expressed in his career "are incompatible with the world vision proposed" by Trump.

The rousing crescendo of words ending Nessun Dorma, from opera composer Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot," proclaims "I will win."

 

One senior Republican Party official says it is now anticipated that Ted Cruz would run in 2020 against Donald Trump even if the billionaire is president.

It would be the first time a sitting president faced a credible primary challenge from within his own party since Ted Kennedy took on President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination in 1980.

The official said: “If Trump wins, you better bet your ass Cruz is going to primary him."

Mr Cruz has now cemented himself as the leader of the anti-Trump movement within the party. That guarantees that plenty of vitriol will be sent his way, but it could also places him in an enviable position should Mr Trump's star fall.

Ted Cruz staunchly has defended his decision not to endorse Donald Trump, saying he was not the Republican presidential candidate's "servile puppy dog" in a damaging rift at the party's convention ahead of the Nov 8 election.

The conservative senator from Texas stood his ground after Wednesday night's explosive speech. He refused to say whether he would vote for Trump, who had maligned Cruz's wife for her physical appearance and had suggested that his father was linked to late President John F. Kennedy's assassin.

"I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," he told a meeting of the Texas delegation in Cleveland.

 

Donald Trump will try to restore order to his convention on Thursday with a prime-time speech after rival Ted Cruz drew boos for refusing to endorse him.

Trump's speech will close out a four-day conclave in Cleveland that exposed continuing divisions among Republicans over their nominee at a time when they need to unite for a looming battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the Nov 8 election.

Those divisions were laid bare when Trump's last major challenger for the nomination, U.S. Senator Cruz of Texas, urged Republicans to "vote your conscience" and pointedly did not endorse Trump.

Jeers erupted from Trump supporters in the crowd, and Cruz's wife, Heidi, was escorted out by security amid the shouting.