Live updates: Trump accepts GOP nomination; Biden facing Democratic pressure to drop reelection bid

Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination for president during a 93-minute-long speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

This marked Trump's first speech since he survived an assassination attempt over the weekend during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Read the full transcript here.

Trump finished his convention speech after speaking for 93 minutes, ending it at 11:05 p.m. CT.

Some people have started leaving their seats and filing out of the arena as Trump’s speech surpasses his records in 2016 and 2020. He has been speaking for more than 80 minutes.

The name of Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief killed at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, is misspelled on the jacket brought to the convention stage. But that was not Trump’s doing. The Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company confirmed it was his gear and that it was sent to Trump, which the former president shared in his speech.

While the volunteer fire department gave no reason for the misspelling, it responded to a reader who pointed out the mistake on its Facebook page, noting that it “was in error years ago, and it was left that way by Corey.”

Trump praised Hungary's far-right leader Viktor Orbán in his convention speech after recently meeting with him at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump said Hungary is a "strong country" run by a "tough guy."

"He came out recently, they were asking him at an interview, the whole world is exploding, what's happening? What's going on? Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, very tough man. He said, 'I don't want people coming into my country and blowing up our shopping centers and killing people,'" Trump said.

"But they said to him, 'Tell us what's going wrong, what's happening? What is it?' He said, 'There's only one way you're going to solve it: You got to bring President Trump back to the United States, because he kept everybody at bay,'" Trump recalled about the exchange.

It took Trump 45 minutes of his nomination acceptance speech to mention his opponent by name, twice noting “the previous administration,” but not using his well-worn nickname “Crooked Joe.” It’s a sign of what is a more subdued speech, the tone of which was set by a somber telling of the assassination attempt Saturday.

When he finally mentioned Biden’s name, he did so only once — and pledged to keep it that way.

Trump mentioned his plan to get rid of taxes on tips, a populist plan that has drawn mixed reaction from Republicans in Congress.

Though it drew cheers from the crowd tonight and has done so at past rallies, some Republicans worry that the plan would only add to the national debt and be unfair to workers who don't earn tips.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a research group that advocates for cutting red ink, estimated last month that the plan could cut federal revenue by as much as $250 billion over 10 years.

STATEMENT: "The election result, we're never going to let it happen again. They used Covid to cheat," Donald Trump said during his speech.

VERDICT: This is false.

ANALYSIS: Trump is referring to changes made during the Covid pandemic, largely to make it easier to vote by mail or absentee as congregating at the polls posed a health risk. Democrats embraced the changes and turned out many voters by mail, while Trump slammed it. There is no evidence these changes lead to fraud, despite Trump and his allies filing more than 50 lawsuits aimed at challenging some facet of the 2020 election. All were denied, dismissed, settled or withdrawn, including multiple that made it to the Supreme Court.

Trump was supposed to have an arrival outside the arena with supporters, but that was scrapped in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting, according to a source familiar with the planning.

Earlier in the day, at a walkthrough in the arena, Trump noted that it was much safer inside, a source familiar with his remarks then told NBC News.

It’s true that one case was dismissed this week, but he was also convicted in May in his hush money trial in New York. Though his two other prosecutions, both having to do with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, won’t go to trial before November, both remain pending.

Trump also touted the ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that threw out his classified documents case.

He praised Cannon, whom he appointed, as highly regarded even though many legal experts have faulted her handling of the case and criticized her stunning ruling finding that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional. The decision had nothing to do with the merits of the case.

STATEMENT: “We gave you the largest tax cut ever,” Donald Trump said during his speech.

VERDICT: This is false.

ANALYSIS: The GOP-sponsored tax bill that Trump signed into law in December 2017 does not amount to the "biggest" in U.S. history, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. According to its estimates, the tax cut is the eighth biggest in history.

STATEMENT: “We also have an illegal immigration crisis, and it's taking place right now as we sit here in this beautiful arena, some massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land," Donald Trump said during his speech.

VERDICT: This is false.

ANALYSIS: Studies have found that migrants do not spread disease. Instead, many help fight it, as migrants make up a significant portion of health care workers.

A 2018 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 16% of health care workers in the U.S. were born somewhere else, including 29% of physicians, 16% of registered nurses, 20% of pharmacists, 24% of dentists and 23% of nursing, psychiatric and home health aides.

"There is no evidence to show that migrants are spreading disease," said Dr. Paul Spiegel, who directs the Center for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, in 2018. "That is a false argument that is used to keep migrants out.”

Featured on the RNC stage alongside former President Donald Trump were a firefighter helmet and jacket belonging to Corey Comperatore, who died at Saturday's rally where a gunman opened fire in an attempt to assassinate the former president.

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday accepted the GOP nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

It is the third straight GOP nomination for the 78-year-old Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 before losing to President Joe Biden in 2020.

The convention has showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won the hearts of the party’s grassroots on his way to the 2016 nomination.

The former president has just taken the stage for his keynote address, during which he'll formally accept the GOP's presidential nomination for a third time.

Melania Trump was just introduced at the RNC ahead of Donald's acceptance speech. She walked out onto the convention floor and made her way over to the family box.

This will be former first lady's first official public appearance with her husband since casting a vote for him in the Florida primary back in March. She was not scheduled to deliver any remarks.

Eric Trump dismissed the claim made by many Democrats that his father is a threat to democracy.

"He is not a threat to democracy. He is a threat to those who despise our republic, many whom are bought and sold, bribed and coerced, people who have never signed the front of a check and who have been dependent on the government their entire adult lives," he said.

Many Democrats and even some Republicans have said Trump is a threat to democracy, as demonstrated by the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Eric Trump took the stage at the RNC on Thursday to make the case to America that his father is the right man to be the next president.

His speech hit hard on Donald Trump's four years in the White House.

"My father made the United States respected again," he said. "... He made America great again."

Trump will address the assassination attempt that injured him and killed one person, according to new excerpts of his speech tonight.

"Just a few short days ago, my journey with you nearly ended. And yet here we are tonight, all gathered together, talking about the future, promise, and renewal of America. We live in a world of miracles," he'll say, according to his prepared remarks.

"None of us knows God’s plan, or where life’s adventure will take us. But if the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on earth is a gift from God. We have to make the most of every day for the people and country we love," he's expected to say, the prepared remarks show.

Pivoting to his campaign, he'll go on to argue that America has "settled for too little. You have been told to lower your expectations and to accept less for your families."

Retired pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, who once endorsed Barack Obama for president, made an unexpected appearance Thursday at the RNC, putting his full support behind Trump, who he has recently called his “hero.”

He walked on stage swinging an American flag.

“You know something, I have seen some great tag teams in my time,” Hogan said. “But you know something, I see the greatest tag team of my life, standing together, getting ready to straighten this country up.”

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Trump's daughter Ivanka, who served as an advisor in his administration, is in attendance tonight for her father's planned keynote acceptance speech. It marks her first appearance at the convention. She was seen entering the hall with her husband Jared Kushner and other members of the Trump family.

Ivanka spoke at the previous two conventions but isn't expected to address the convention tonight, though her brother Eric Trump is set to speak.

Trump's eldest son Donald Jr. spoke on the convention's third night ahead of vice presidential nominee JD Vance. Other Trump family members who've taken the stage in Milwaukee include Donald Jr.'s daughter Kai and his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle. And Lara Trump, the former president's daughter-in-law, ended the program Tuesday with a speech about Trump's personal warmth and love for his family.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., became the latest Democratic senator to call for President Joe Biden to bow out of the presidential race Thursday.

"While I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I believe President Biden should not seek re-election to another term," Tester said in a statement.

The senator is running for re-election in one of the most vulnerable Senate seats for Democrats this fall.

Read the full story.

In her convention speech, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said that the only crime the former president has committed is "loving America."

"Every attack on President Trump only strengthens our movement. The left's madness is only a sign of desperation. Sham indictments and baseless allegations will not deter us, because the only crime President Trump has committed is loving America," Habba said.

Among the four criminal indictments against Trump, the former president was found guilty in late May on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records — the first time a former U.S. president was convicted of a crime.

Trump just sat down next to country music star Jason Aldean, a country-music megastar who drew controversy last year for a music video that featured a courthouse where a Black teenager was lynched in 1927.

Critics blasted the images, as well as the lyrics, where Aldean says people who "cuss out a cop, spit in his face, stomp on the flag and light it up" should "try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road. Around here, we take care of our own, you cross that line it won't take long for you to find out."

But conservatives rallied around the song, it was played at numerous GOP political rallies and Trump called him "fantastic" in a message promoting the song.

After Trump's felony conviction in the hush money trial in New York, Aldean posted a message of praise for Trump on Instagram: "Scary times in our country right now."

Thousands of mourners filed into a Pennsylvania banquet hall Thursday to remember the former fire chief who was fatally shot during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, who sent a note of condolence hailing him as a hero.

The crowd paying their respects to Corey Comperatore and his family appeared to be a mix of friends, neighbors and strangers who wanted to show their appreciation for the man who officials said spent his final moments shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire at the campaign rally.

Fire trucks and police vehicles filled the parking lot outside the building. Sharpshooters were positioned on top of the event hall and on nearby buildings as dozens of people waited in line to enter. Among the mourners were firefighters in dress uniforms.

Comperatore, 50, worked as a project and tooling engineer, was an Army reservist and spent many years as a volunteer firefighter after serving as chief, according to his obituary.

An employee at Trump International Golf Club in Florida praised Trump's golf skills in a speech at the convention.

John Nieporte, the club's PGA head golf professional, said that Trump is not only a "great boss" but "one hell of a golfer."

"At our club championship in March, I watched President Trump hit a perfect 210-yard 4 Iron to within 10 feet of the hole. Yep, he needed to sink that putt to win. Do you think he sank it? You better believe he sunk that putt," he said.

Nieporte continued, "For 25 years, I've seen his generosity and his remarkable character firsthand. His entire family reflects these values as well. With all the hate the president gets, I think to myself, 'How can someone go through all this? He could have chosen a quiet life. He could have played more golf.' But he cares so deeply about America and our people, he just keeps working and he does it for us."

Donald Trump made his entrance into the convention hall Thursday night without his wife Melania, though she is expected to arrive later ahead of Trump's keynote address. He is expected to formally accept the party's presidential nomination.

He walked in to a rendition of AC/DC's "Back in Black" by the house band, still wearing a bandage over his right ear covering the injuries he suffered in an assassination attempt over the weekend.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a dig at Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during his RNC speech.

"We never lost our secretary of defense for two weeks," he said.

The comment was a reference to Austin being hospitalized earlier this year. Austin has apologized for the delay in informing the White House of his hospitalization.

In an interview on Thursday, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry suggested that if the Ten Commandments had been on display in the classroom or school of Thomas Matthew Crooks then the 20-year-old may not have tried to assassinate former President Trump.

“I would submit that maybe if the Ten Commandments were hanging on (Crooks’) wall in the school that he was in, then maybe he wouldn’t have taken a shot at the president. How about that?,” Landry said in a video interview with Nexstar Media at the Republican National Convention.

Landry stumbled over the shooter’s name in the interview, however, a spokesperson with his office later confirmed to The Associated Press that the governor was indeed referring to Crooks.

In Louisiana, Landry recently signed into law a requirement that there be a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms by Jan. 1. Civil liberties groups have since filed a lawsuit and asked a federal court to block implementation of the mandate.

Boxes of "Trump Cereal" are being sold for $20 each at the RNC.

The boxes depict a cartoon Trump eating breakfast or standing with his hand over his heart against an American flag backdrop.

But the bright red and blue boxes that read "greatness in every bowl" may leave buyers hungry since the cereal inside has not been approved for consumption.

On a Tuesday in early July, 75 wealthy Democratic political donors gathered on a Zoom call to discuss the path forward for President Joe Biden after his calamitous debate performance against Donald Trump, according to a person on the call. 

Only one of the donors said they thought Biden should stay in the race, this person said. All the others made it very clear that they believed Biden needed to drop out of the race, if the party wanted to defeat Trump in November. People who spoke to CNBC for this story were granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive matter. 

Since then, big money donors who fund either the Biden campaign, his allied political action committees or the party at large have launched a lobbying campaign aimed at senior Democrats in both the House and Senate.

Their goal is to convince lawmakers to publicly call on Biden to end his reelection campaign, according to over half a dozen people familiar with the matter.

Read the full story here.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will not step down following the assassination attempt on Trump, according to a spokesman.

“Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down," Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service chief of communications, said in a statement. "She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews.”

Vance will be in Middletown, Ohio, on Monday for his first campaign rally as Trump's vice presidential nominee, the Trump-Vance campaign announced today.

The rally will occur exactly one week after Trump formally announced Vance as his running mate.

Trump senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita today called Project 2025 a “pain in the a--” for the Trump campaign.

In an interview with Politico, LaCivita said concerns over Trump adopting the ultra-conservative policies in the proposal are “complete and utter bulls---” and that such reports are “pure speculation,” despite several Trump cabinet members, White House officials, senior aides and appointees being involved with the project.

“That’s what the left wants, but I’m not going to give into that,” LaCivita said. “The president’s made it clear these people do not speak for him, they do not speak for the campaign.”

He also pointed to Trump’s social media post where he said he knew "nothing" about Project 2025.

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has toyed with the idea of running for president in the past, said he has no interest in seeking the Oval Office should Biden step down and Democrats opt for an open convention or a brief primary.

“Absolutely not,” he told NBC News in an email.

While Obama has “concerns” about Biden’s ability to stay at the top of the ticket, the former president also continues to see his main role as a sounding board and counselor to his former vice president, two people familiar with Obama’s thinking told NBC News. 

Much like other leaders in the Democratic Party, Obama does see Biden’s path to winning in November as “getting harder,” one of the sources said.  

But overall, Obama believes that Biden has been a great president and feels personally protective of him and his accomplishments, the two people familiar with Obama’s thinking said. 

Biden and Obama spoke once after the president’s poor debate performance, but it’s unclear whether they have spoken since then.  

Melania Trump is expected to attend the RNC tonight, but has largely avoided public events during the campaign. Here is a compiled list of the former first lady's whereabouts that we know of since Trump launched his re-election campaign in 2022. 

Dec. 15, 2023: Makes remarks at a naturalization ceremony in D.C., not with her husband.

Jan. 18: Attends mother’s funeral in Florida with the former president.

March 9: Seen in a social media post with Trump and and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

President Joe Biden is “still experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with his recent Covid-19 infection," but has no fever and his vital signs are normal, the White House physician said Thursday.

"He continues to receive Paxlovid" and "will continue to conduct the business of the American people," Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in a letter released by the White House. 

Read the full story

Trump is expected to take center stage to address the Republican National Convention and formally accept he GOP nomination. His son Eric Trump is also scheduled to speak tonight.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former US Administrator of SBA Linda McMahon and several Republican congressman will also address the convention. As will Tucker Carlson, country music stars Lee Greenwood and Chris Janson and former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Kid Rock is set to perform.

See the full list of speakers here.

Former president Barack Obama has privately expressed concerns to Democrats about President Joe Biden’s candidacy, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi privately warned Biden that Democrats could lose the ability to seize control in the House if he didn’t step away from the race.

Pelosi also showed Biden polling that he likely can’t defeat Republican Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

Time racing, Democrats at the highest levels are making a critical push for Biden to reconsider his reelection bid, as unease grows at the White House and within the campaign at a fraught moment for the president and his party.

Trump has written his own speech for Thursday night’s address and it is expected to be more personal than his usual comments, according to two sources familiar with the planned remarks who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Trump’s speech on the last night of the Republican National Convention is also expected to lay out a stark contrast with the Democrats’ policies, which Republicans plan to make clear they are as much Harris’ as Biden’s.

The Amazon Prime show "The Boys" issued a statement Thursday warning viewers that the final episode contains "fictional political violence, which some viewers might find disturbing." The warning comes amid the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. A former fire chief was fatally shot and two others were wounded in the shooting.

Vice presidential nominee JD Vance chose an unlikely reference to illustrate his spirituality to an audience of influential Christian conservatives Thursday morning.

“I want to leave you with one more final thought and it comes from one of my favorite theologians, the character Jules in the movie, ‘Pulp Fiction,’” Vance told those gathered for the Faith and Freedom Coalition breakfast at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. “Sorry, this will make sense in a second.”

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, Trump's former White House physician, said plenty about Biden's health and vitality during Wednesday's convention. He said the 81-year-old's family and close aides should have convinced him he is not up to the job. But Jackson said nothing about Trump's health, either generally or after the assassination attempt.

Biden's health and visible aging has been a focus of the campaign, even before his halting debate performance last month. He became the oldest president in history as soon as he was inaugurated in 2021. But Donald Trump is 78, several months older now than Biden was when he accepted the Democratic nomination in 2020. And Trump, if he wins in November, could become the 81-year-old president just like the man Republicans now insist is too old for the Oval Office.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is ramping up the pressure on U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, calling on President Biden to fire her for security failures in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Johnson had already called for Cheatle to step down but says it’s clear she has no intention of doing so.

“I think there has to be accountability and it begins at the top. This is ridiculous,” Johnson said Thursday during a Fox Business interview.

Johnson also described a telephone briefing that Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray provided lawmakers on Wednesday, saying “they did not give us satisfactory answers to some very important questions” while also acknowledging that some of the information may need to be discussed in a classified setting.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance made his first public appearance Thursday since accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination Wednesday, speaking at an evangelical Christian breakfast where he described the winding path to his faith.

He told roughly 1,000 influential social conservatives that he once considered himself an atheist, but marrying and some early influences from the devout grandmother who raised him set him on the course to his Christian faith.

Vance also addressed uneasiness stemming from the Trump campaign’s effort to streamline the Republican Party platform, which, until this month, had for 40 years called for a national abortion ban.

“There has been a lot of grumbling in the past few weeks that the Republican Party of now and the Republican Party of the future is not going to be a place that’s welcoming to social conservatives,” Vance told attendees. “And, really, from the bottom of my heart, that is not true. Social conservatives have a seat at this table, and always will so long as I have any influence in this party, and President Trump, I know.”

The breakfast was hosted by the Faith and Freedom Coalition at the Pfister Hotel, a late Victorian downtown monument.

Kid Rock is scheduled to perform at the RNC just before former President Donald Trump takes the stage to deliver the keynote speech.

The "Batwitdaba" singer, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, is a long-time Trump supporter and has been criticized in recent years for displaying the Confederate flag onstage during performance, and for making racist and transphobic remarks.

President Joe Biden is dismissing the idea that it’s too late for him to recover politically, even as he faces increasing pressure to bow out of the race.

In a radio interview with Univision’s Luis Sandoval that airs Thursday, Biden says it’s still early and that many people don’t focus on the election until September.

“All the talk about who’s leading and where and how, is kind of, you know — everything so far between Trump and me has been basically even,” Biden said in an excerpt of the interview.

Some national polls do show a close race, though others suggest Trump with a lead. And some state polls have contained warning signs too, including a recent New York Times/Siena poll that suggested a competitive race in Virginia.

Two senior campaign officials confirmed that Hulk Hogan will speak tonight at the RNC convention ahead of Trump formally accepting the GOP nomination for president.

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, a former Trump administration official, is also on the list of speakers.

North Carolina Gov. Doug Burgum blaimed Biden's "red tap" for rising prices on gas, food, clothing and rent.

THE FACTS: The statement is misleading. Republicans and some economists have blamed Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid for contributing to higher inflation. But there are few signs that regulation was the culprit.

Gasoline prices climbed coming out of the pandemic due to lower production levels, but the market data show it further climbed after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

The war in Ukraine also contributed to higher food inflation. The consumer price index shows clothing costs are up under Biden, but, again, there is no evidence that red tape explains the problem.

As for housing costs, most economists and industry analysts say the problem is a lack of new construction and available homes to buy. There are regulations inhibiting new construction, but those are primarily at the state and local level.