Was Trump’s speech a success?

Through it all Republicans savaged Clinton, painting an apocalyptic vision of America if she should win and aggressively challenging her character.

Trump said the USA would work with Israel to destroy the “barbarians of ISIS”, and vowed to end what he called “policy of nation-building and regime change”, saying that “instead we must work with all of our allies who share the goal of destroying ISIS and Islamic terrorism”. He strode onstage triumphant Thursday night to raucous cheers from the delegates gathered inside the Quicken Loans Arena. “Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country”.

Addressing Americans’ fears of terrorism and crime: Americans are living with a heightened fear of terrorist attacks and crime more broadly, and Trump’s speech speaks directly to those fears. “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon – and I mean very soon – come to an end”. “Now I’m going to make our country rich again”. He will be introduced by his daughter Ivanka, and all of his other children, except for his 10-year-old son, Barron, have also spoken at the convention. “Beginning on January 20, 2017, safety will be restored”, Trump will say.

It was an address laced with some his familiar boasting of his stunning conquest of the Republican Party.

“It is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation”, the New Yorker said in his oratorical style that is more cloddish than soaring. “I will present the facts plainly and honestly”.

Business daily Handelsblatt’s headline meanwhile focused on Trump’s call that “we can not be so politically correct” – something Trump has never knowingly been accused of.

He depicted a country also weakened by misbegotten adventurism overseas, a criticism that could have been leveled as much at George W. Bush of his own party as at President Barack Obama.

“Iraq is in chaos”. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons.

“After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before”, Trump said. He went on: “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness”. “Let’s defeat her in December”, he told the crowd.

In coming weeks, Trump’s campaign plans to put him in more intimate settings talking to women about the economy, national security and education.

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).

“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. The choices for the American people could not be starker.

“One of the best speeches – if not the best speech – tonight”, said Chris Herrod, a 50-year-old delegate from Utah who had worked for Trump’s vanquished rival Ted Cruz, the USA senator from Texas. France, he noted “is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism”. Underscoring his unorthodox candidacy, Trump doubled down on the hard-line immigration policies that fired up conservatives in the primary but broke with many in his party by promising protections for gays and lesbians.

“The Republican Party that I worked for for two decades died in this room tonight”, Wallace said on NBC.

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.

He said children in Ferguson deserve as much opportunity as children anywhere else, and mentioned the massacre at an Orlando LGBTQ club Pulse, praising the arena for cheering as he said he would defend LGBTQ people from foreign terrorists. “I’ve never seen it this disunited”.

“Middle-income Americans and businesses will experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly simplified for everyone”. “Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country”. “This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans”.

Populism was weaved through the addres.

But beyond the Cleveland drama, Trump faces a more hard long-term challenge: fashioning a message that can at once soothe concerns among scores of independent women while still firing up the white men who are angry about the direction of the country.

It was the passages on immigration that had been arguably the most eagerly awaited. They’re so honest, ” he said. Mrs Clinton should fear a Donald Trump whose demagoguery is so well-crafted.

Repeating a signature policy that opponents call a fantastical lie, and adding new quasi-magical benefits that it would bring, Mr Trump proudly vowed to build: “a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities”.