RNC updates: Trump picks JD Vance for vice president nominee

Roughly two hours after Donald Trump posted on his own social media platform to announce his running mate as JD Vance, the RNC formally selected the Ohio senator as its vice presidential nominee.

"JD is a living embodiment of the American dream," Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted as he put forward Vance's name at the RNC.

"He came from humble beginnings."

Meanwhile, Joe Biden condemned the Republicans' choice of vice presidential candidate.

"He's a clone of Trump on the issues," Biden told reporters shortly before boarding a flight to Nevada. "I don't see any difference."

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he is not dropping out of the race after US media outlets reported that Donald Trump sought his endorsement in a meeting.

"Lots of rumors going around about my meeting this morning with President Trump," Kennedy posted on social media while the RNC was underway.

"Our main topic was national unity, and I hope to meet with Democratic leaders about that as well. No, I am not dropping out of the race."

Ohio Senator JD Vance has been named as the Republican vice presidential candidate for the November election.

Vance is a 39-year-old Marine Corps veteran who rose to prominence with his 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," that tells of the hardships he faced growing up in Appalachian Kentucky and Ohio.

When Trump first ran for president that same year, Vance called him "dangerous" and "unfit for office."

However, Vance was introduced to the Trump family when Donald Trump Jr. became a fan of his book. He eventually met with Trump as president in 2021.

Once he was elected as a senator for Ohio in 2023, Vance fiercely defended Trump's policies and behavior, which he said resonated with voters who felt forgotten by the party.

"He understands what Trump is running on and, unlike the rest of the Republican Party in Washington, agrees with it," conservative commentator Tucker Carlson told Reuters.

Ideologically, Vance has been described by the president of the Heritage Foundation as a leading conservative voice on key issues including free market economics, a less interventionist foreign policy and "American culture writ large."

Democrats have called Vance an extremist on issues like abortion.

Vance signaled support for a nationwide 15-week abortion ban during his senate campaign, but he softened his stance after Ohio voters overwhelmingly backed a 2023 abortion rights amendment.

In recent days, Vance attracted controversy for his comments on the assassination attempt against Trump.

"The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs," Vance wrote on social media. "That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."

Donald Trump has officially secured enough votes from delegates to become the Republican presidential nominee.

The delegation from Florida brought him across the line.

Trump's son, Eric, spoke for the Florida delegation, flanked by Trump's other children.

The delegates had already been chosen in a series of votes around the country, making the election of Trump as party nominee at the convention a purely symbolic event.

Donald Trump has named 39-year-old Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.

"JD honorably served our country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, summa cum laude, and is a Yale Law School graduate, where he was editor of The Yale Law Journal, and president of the Yale Law Veterans Association," Trump said on social media.

"JD's book, 'Hillbilly Elegy,' became a major best seller and movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our country. JD has had a very successful business career in technology and finance, and now, during the campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American workers and farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond…"

Hundreds of protesters converged outside the RNC in downtown Milwaukee on Monday afternoon.

Activists from a number of groups carried signs that read: "Stand with Palestine," "We Can No Longer Afford the Rich" and "Defend and Expand Immigrant Rights."

Many also carried signs with slogans in favor of abortion rights.

The protesters marched around the perimeter of the convention in temperatures approaching 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).

Some of the progressive demonstrators argued with pro-Republican counter-protesters on issues like LGBT rights and the Black Lives Matter movement.

A recent survey from the University of Chicago found that 10% of respondents believe political violence is justified to stop Donald Trump from becoming president again.

DW spoke with the survey's author, political scientist Robert Pape, on what the findings mean in the wake of Saturday's assassination attempt.

"We are in an era, in the United States, of political violence, the likes of which we have not seen since the 1960s," Pape told DW.

The Republican National Convention (RNC) has opened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday.

The swing state at the edge of the Rust Belt is set to be a key battleground between Republicans and Democrats in the election in November.

Donald Trump arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday evening, a day after he survived an assassination attempt.

"I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be dead," Trump told the New York Post in an interview during his flight to Milwaukee.

"By luck or by God, many people are saying it's by God I'm still here."

DW's Washington correspondent Ines Pohl said that "the coronation of Donald Trump is underway," with the former president all but certain to secure the Republican nomination after a landslide victory in the primaries

Thousands of Republican lawmakers and activists are gathering on Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where delegates are expected to confirm Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee.

The outcome is almost certain, as Trump has secured 2,243 delegates — almost double the amount needed. The four other major candidates dropped out of the race months ago.

Trump also said he would announce his running mate on Monday.

The Republican vice presidential nomination has been the subject of much speculation as Trump at times butted heads with senior figures within the party.

A number of Republican figures are also set to speak throughout the evening including Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Meanwhile, crowds of protesters as well as Republican supporters gathered outside Fiserv Forum where the convention is being held.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said law enforcement agencies have "reviewed and strengthened" security measures at the convention in the wake of the assassination attempt against Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday.

A US federal judge has dismissed a criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion after he left office.

The decision came just hours before the RNC kicked off in Milwaukee.

However, Trump still faces three other criminal cases, including a hush-money case in New York where he was found guilty of falsifying business records.

Trump called Monday's verdict a "first step" and said that all criminal cases against him should be dismissed.

The Republic National Convention (RNC) comes two days after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

A gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight rounds from an assault rifle, hitting Trump's right ear.

Both Trump and US President Joe Biden have called for calm and unity in the wake of the shooting.

"I do think we're going to see a change in language among elected officials," American University extremism expert Cynthia Miller-Idriss told DW.

"They're nervous, they're scared. This is a wake-up call, a reckoning moment for them."

zc/ab (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)