Ending wars, assassination attempt, Iron Dome for US: Key takeaways from Trump’s speech

The Republican nominee has urged unity after the attempt on his life, while accusing Joe Biden of doing “unthinkable” damage to America

Donald Trump has accepted the Republican nomination to run for the White House in November’s US presidential election. In the longest televised acceptance speech in US history, Trump pledged to “make America great once again,” as he made his first public address since surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania last weekend. During a 90-minute speech, which was the culmination of the four-day Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Trump urged national unity while attacking the administration of US President Joe Biden over perceived failures in foreign and domestic policy. Trump earlier noted that he had scrapped his original speech, which was “all about the corrupt” current US government, to focus more on his near-death experience and its implications for the US.

‘I’m not supposed to be here’

Trump recalled in detail the assassination attempt at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left one man dead and two others injured. The gunman was later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed at the scene. “I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump told the crowd, which responded by shouting “Yes you are!” “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God,” he added, referring to the fact that the bullet had missed his head by millimeters and only pierced his ear.

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Plea for unity

With the assassination attempt on Trump becoming the latest sign of political polarization in the US, the Republican urged his fellow Americans to put the violent incident behind them. “Together, we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,” he stressed. “The discord and division in our society must be healed… We rise together or we fall apart.” The unity message, however, did not stop Trump from criticizing the Democrats. He claimed that Biden has done “unthinkable” damage to the country, exceeding that inflicted by the ten worst presidents in US history combined.

Restoring world peace

Trump vowed to “end every single international crisis that the current administration has created,” particularly the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, although he did not offer a specific plan. He claimed that both crises would never have happened if he had been in office, suggesting that Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine was emboldened by Washington’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 under Biden’s watch. He also addressed the recent visit of Russian warships to Cuba. “Russian warships and nuclear submarines are operating 60 miles off the [US] coast in Cuba. Press refused to write about it. If that were me running this country… headlines every day would be ‘what’s wrong with our president,’” he said.

‘Getting along’ with North Korea

The Republican said he “got along very well” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, half-jokingly suggesting that the latter “misses” him. “It’s nice to get along with somebody who has a lot of nuclear weapons or otherwise.” Trump famously became the first US president to meet with a North Korean leader during a 2018 summit in Singapore. While Trump pledged at the time to halt what he called “provocative” military exercises with South Korea, the meeting failed to make significant progress on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

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Iron Dome for US

While insisting that he can end wars with a phone call, Trump vowed to continue to enhance US domestic security. “We will replenish our military and build an Iron Dome missile defense system to ensure that no enemy can strike our homeland,” he said, adding that the weapon will be entirely US-produced.

‘Massive invasion’ on Mexican border

The GOP nominee also touched on numerous domestic issues, including illegal immigration, which has been a centerpiece of his election campaigns for years. “It’s a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it,” Trump claimed.