Accepted nomination

Trump expects “incredible victory” in election

(Bild: AP/Scott Applewhite)

Donald Trump has officially accepted his nomination as the US Republican presidential candidate. "In four months, we will win an incredible victory," he said to cheers at the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday (local time).

He wanted to be "president for all of America, not half of America", said Trump, who also spoke about the attempted assassination at a campaign event last Saturday (see video above). "I knew immediately that it was very serious, that we were under attack," said the 78-year-old. In a way, however, he felt safe "because I had God on my side". Trump also observed a minute's silence for the spectator killed at the campaign event.

Frenetically cheered by supporters
"My hand was covered in blood, just blood everywhere", Trump described. If he had not looked to the side at the moment of the shot, he would no longer be alive, he emphasized. "I stand here before you, in this arena, only by the grace of Almighty God." His supporters cheered him frenetically. Trump went into great detail and said he would only talk about the attack on him once. "You won't hear it from me a second time because it's actually too painful to tell."

Donald Trump has officially accepted his nomination as the US Republican presidential candidate.

(Bild: AP/Scott Applewhite)

A gunman opened fire at a campaign event in the town of Butler in Pennsylvania on Saturday - shortly before the start of the party convention - and shot Trump. The perpetrator was killed by security forces. One visitor died and two others were wounded. Trump was injured in his right ear. He has been wearing a white bandage there ever since. The incident was an escalation in the already heated US election campaign.

Trump said he had learned something new from the attack. "When something happens to the ears, they bleed more than any other part of the body." The doctors explained this to him. "I asked: why is there so much blood?"

Pictures of Trump with blood on his ear and some blood on his face - and at the same time with a clenched fist - went around the world after the attack. His supporters thought he had been killed, said the 78-year-old. "I wanted to do something to let them know that I was okay. I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people waiting breathlessly and started shouting: Fight! Fight! Fight!"

He continued: "As my clenched fist went high into the air, the crowd realized I was doing well and roared with pride in our country." According to Trump, he had never heard anything like it before.

Wife Melanie showed up at the party convention
After a conspicuous absence at the Republican Party Convention, Melania Trump did appear in front of a large audience on Thursday. She entered the convention hall to great applause on the last evening of the four-day spectacle some time before her husband's speech.

The relationship between Donald and Melania Trump has not only been the subject of speculation in recent years, but has also repeatedly caused some ridicule. Since leaving the White House at the beginning of 2021, Melania Trump has hardly appeared in public, has largely remained silent and has hardly played a role in her husband's election campaign.