Donald Trump Accepts Republican Nomination

“Together, we will lead our party back to the White House”, he told the giant sports arena in Cleveland, vowing to get tough faced with the recent shootings and attacks that have rocked the country. “I am going to bring our jobs back to OH and to America – and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequences”, he said.

Trump promised to rebuild American infrastructure with the wealth created from new revenue from energy and relocated businesses to places like OH and Pennsylvania, to repeal and replace Obamacare, reduce taxes, and put conservative justices on the Supreme Court.

The Trump campaign did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the draft of the speech Trump was scheduled to deliver at the Republican National Convention at 10:15 p.m. (0215 GMT on Friday). His themes were entirely consistent with his campaign over the past year, but it was presented in the most thorough, disciplined and specific way yet. “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it”, he will say.

Former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders took umbrage. “This will all change when I take office”, he will continue.

Trump had hoped the four-day Republican convention would bolster his support among GOP leaders and win over skeptics.

Corruption, according to Trump, should be the top line on Clinton’s resume.

Many in the Republican establishment have been upset with his free-wheeling style, frequent insults to rivals and controversial policy proposals such as imposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country and building a wall along the border with Mexico.

“This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton – death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”, he went on.

“I always heard he didn’t have that many friends in Washington D.C. He certainly didn’t have that many friends in this room last night”, Trump’s son Eric told NBC’s Today show. “Her bad instincts and her bad judgment – something pointed out by Bernie Sanders – are what caused so numerous disasters unfolding today”.

As the crowd, fiercely opposed to Clinton, broke out in its oft-used chant of, “Lock her up”, he waved them off, and instead declared, “Let’s defeat her in November”.

“We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people”, according to Trump’s speech draft.

As president, Trump said he would defend an ally against Russian aggression only after first ensuring that the allies had met their obligations to the US “If they fulfil their obligations to us, the answer is yes, ” he said.

While he mentioned Israel only in passing, the candidate did note briefly that the U.S. ought to work with the Jewish state to combat terrorism.

Trump said he would the president of “forgotten” people “who work hard but no longer have a voice”.

That raised the stakes even higher for what is meant to be Trump’s triumphant turn on the stage Thursday night as he accepts the Republican nomination.

When Trump first introduced his adoption of the slogan, the Anti-Defamation League urged him to drop it. But Trump dismissed the watchdog’s criticism.

In coming weeks, Trump’s campaign plans to put him in more intimate settings talking to women about the economy, national security and education. “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo”, he said Thursday night.

“As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America first, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect”, he is planning to say. “This will all change in 2017”.

Trump’s speech, after a glowing introduction by his oldest daughter, Ivanka, concluded the final night of the convention, followed by a showering of 125,000 balloons and the classic tableau of the nominee, his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, and their families smiling and waving from the stage.

Ivanka Trump, echoing those images of the Kennedy children playing by President Kennedy’s desk, said that she grew up constructing Lego skyscrapers at the feet of the man while he was doing the real thing. She said “he hires the best person for the job, period”. The younger Trump noted she’s worked with her father for more than a decade and seen him hire people from “all walks of life”.

Gun laws: Trump promised to defend the Second Amendment.

Trump hasn’t addressed child care costs or the gender pay gap so far in his 2016 presidential bid.

It remains unclear if his message will be enough to unite a Republican Party riven with doubts over his candidature.

Setting aside the fact that the week has been largely overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Melania Trump’s speech – and now Cruz’s refusal to endorse his former rival – the message has also seemed keyed largely to the Republican primary voter, rather than the swing voters who are open to Trump, but unsettled by his divisive rhetoric.