Former president Donald Trump has officially accepted the Republican nomination, uniting the party behind his MAGA agenda. In a divisive convention speech delivered to Americans but witnessed by the world, he outlined his plans to double down on his America First agenda and restore the American dream.
Trump arrived at the convention with unprecedented momentum, just days after a shocking attempted assassination in Pennsylvania and weeks after President Biden’s disastrous presidential debate performance in late June.
The subsequent drop in public support for Biden unleashed deep division in the Democratic party and saw calls for the president to make way for a new, and younger, leader. Trump’s supporters are understandably jubilant.
During the former president’s first term in office, Pew documented a dramatic increase in Republican and Democrats’ mutual suspicions.
But briefly after the assassination attempt, with the nation at an inflection point, there was a moment of hope that this would serve to transform the nation. Perhaps former President Trump, and President Biden would each work to unify the country and create a more respectful political debate?
Less than a week later, the Republican National Convention delivered a far more limited goal: unifying the party around the MAGA agenda.
Trump invited his earlier opponent, Nikki Haley, to the convention. She accepted, signposting her willingness to endorse a president whose agenda she had opposed only last year. Ron DeSantis also pledged loyalty. Ted Cruz, a key Trump opponent in 2016, lauded Trump’s border security policies in his speech.
Trump’s speech
Trump’s convention speech began with a unity agenda, but it quickly degenerated. The former president juxtaposed a nation in decline, blaming this on Democrats, with a MAGA agenda that would restore the American dream.
He referred to President Biden as the worst president in the history of the nation, and spewed multiple false claims (not least that there is record inflation under Biden: inflation in June was 3 per cent, down from 9.1 per cent in June 2022).
Trump revived the narrative of a stolen election, blaming Democrats for ‘cheating on elections’ and stating they had ‘weaponized the justice system against political opponents’. He proclaimed the success of his first administration (touting his tax cuts, and the near completion of the border wall) and portrayed a United States facing an invasion on the southern border, and teetering on the edge of World War Three.
He rejected the climate agenda of President Biden saying he would end ‘green new scam’ policies and ‘drill baby drill’ instead. He promised ‘massive tax cuts’ and to restore growth, bring back car manufacturing and eliminate the national debt. He declared his ambition to ensure US energy independence, and reminded the world that he would double down on the tariff wars.
Europe’s perspective
For America’s European allies, the division between Trump and Biden’s world view remains as stark as ever: they are at the heart of it. The former president told his supporters in Milwaukee that America’s allies take advantage of her.
Trump’s appointment of J.D. Vance as his running mate, a young senator from Ohio, feeds into this perspective. On foreign policy, the Vice President rarely has influence.
But the appointment of Vance sent a strong signal of Trump’s intentions. And for an older presidential candidate, already the subject of one foreign plot and one domestic assassination attempt, the VP choice has taken greater significance.
Vance offers a more coherent and articulate version of Trump’s agenda. He argues passionately against US defence of Ukraine, declaring that it is not in the vital interests of the US, and that Europe should do more.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February, the senator portrayed a world of scarcity in which the US would need to make choices about how to leverage its resources. In a sign of support for Trump’s economic agenda, he referred to the ‘stupid Washington consensus’.
If there was any doubt in Europe about the meaning of a second Trump presidency, Vance’s appointment removes it.
The Democrats’ choice
Where does this leave the Democrats? Only a week ago, the weight of expert opinion had begun to move dramatically against the idea that Biden could maintain his candidacy.
The disastrous debate ushered in a wave of attacks, only made worse by an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopolous in which the president appeared to be in denial about his electoral prospects, and his dwindling support. Today the pressure on Biden is unfolding at pace.
With less than four months until Americans cast their ballots, the prospect that further change will disrupt and unsettle the election is significant. But the vast majority of Americans have decided how they will vote and their positions will not change due to the events of the last week.
The election will still be won or lost in a limited number of swing states, and by two factors: whether Democrats and Republicans are enthusiastic enough about their candidate to vote; and what choices undecided voters make.
