Trump clinches presidential nomination, marking a political comeback for the ages

MILWAUKEE — Republicans on Monday nominated former President Trump as their party’s presidential nominee, capping a remarkable political resurgence few predicted when he left office in 2021.

Mr. Trump arrived at the Republican National Convention as one of the most popular party nominees in decades, having blown past a dozen GOP opponents in the primary, his image supercharged by a narrow escape from death by an assassin’s bullet at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania.

It’s a stark contrast from January 2021, when Mr. Trump departed Washington as a twice-impeached political loser who did not attend the inauguration of his successor, President Biden. 

Now polls show him poised to defeat Mr. Biden, and his followers are thrilled but not too surprised he’s back on top. 

“After the election, maybe it looked like President Trump was done,” Michigan delegate Randy Guppy said. “But I just think that so many people are looking at how things were during the first Trump term, comparing that to Biden, and saw that was much better than what we have now.”

Republicans formally nominated Mr. Trump to serve atop the 2024 ticket Monday in a round of votes that took place just as Mr. Trump announced his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, a former staunch critic who is now one of his most ardent supporters.

Mr. Trump made a cameo appearance at the convention Monday night, causing the crowd to go wild and chant “We love Trump!” and “Fight, fight, fight.”

Mr. Trump, his ear still bandaged from the shooting, sat with his family and didn’t speak to the crowd. His acceptance speech is planned for Thursday, the last night of the convention.

Earlier on Monday, a Florida judge threw out federal charges that Mr. Trump, 78, improperly stored classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal cleared at least temporarily one of four criminal cases dogging the former president that supporters believe are politically motivated. 

Mr. Trump secured the nomination months ago after quickly knocking out his primary opponents.

While the vote in Milwaukee was a mere formality, it was greeted with thunderous applause and raucous cheers from the floor of the Fiserv Forum.

Mr. Trump’s son, Eric Trump, announced his father had won all the delegates from Florida, crossing Mr. Trump over the threshold needed to secure the nomination. 

Eric Trump, who stood on the floor with other Trump family members, called his father “the greatest president that’s ever lived” and declared him the nominee.

Delegates shouted “Trump” and “USA” from the floor of the convention center.

They also adopted a new “Fight! Fight! Fight!” chant in a nod to Mr. Trump, who was grazed days ago by a would-be assassin’s bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Trump put his fist up and yelled the same words as he was ushered off the stage by the Secret Service, his ear bloodied by a bullet that missed his head by millimeters.

Wisconsin delegate Paul Farrow said Mr. Trump has gained popularity by largely dropping his fixation on the irregularities of the 2020 election that the former president believes “rigged” it unfairly in favor of Mr. Biden.

Instead, Mr. Trump is talking about Mr. Biden’s record and what he’ll do to turn around a sagging economy, fix rampant illegal immigration and strengthen national security. 

“What we’re seeing is the president has changed himself. He’s starting to talk about the future,” Mr. Farrow said. “And if he continues on that course, that’s what people look for. They want a leader who’s going to show them a vision for where he wants to take him. I think he’s starting to do that again.”