In a heartfelt speech before the Republican convention at Milwaukee Thursday night, President Trump recounted his near-death experience, thanked the law enforcement agents who saved his life and called for a unified America.

The former president, who sat silently in his presidential booth at the Fiserv Forum for nearly four straight days, was heralded by allies from inside and outside politics alike. His family, celebrities, and members of Congress all sang his praises over the course of the week, and made the case that he should return to the White House. 

Trump began his remarks by talking about the terrifying moment he knew he had been shot by a would-be assassin. He has asked for unity in the wake of this attack. 

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Mr. Trump said, which made the crowd of thousands chant: “Yes you are!”

“We rise together or we fall apart,” Mr. Trump said at the top of his speech. “I am running to be president for all of America — not half of America — because there is no victory in winning for half of America.” He said he came to deliver “a message of confidence, strength, and hope.”

“So many people have asked me: ‘What happened?’” Trump said. He added that he would only tell the story of the attempted assassination once, because it was “too painful to tell.”

“It was a warm, beautiful day in the early evening … music was loudly playing, and the campaign was doing really well. I went to the stage and the crowd was cheering wildly,” Trump said, until he heard a “whizzing sound” 

“I said to myself: ‘Wow, what was that?’” Trump said on stage. “My hand was covered with blood. … I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack.”

The former president thanked the “very brave secret service agents” and the “patriots” who attended his rally that day. 

“I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” Trump said. 

Following that assassination attempt, former first lady Melania Trump joined her husband at the Republican National Convention ahead of his address. It is Mrs. Trump’s first public political appearance in months. She has largely been absent from the public eye since leaving the White House in 2021.

Mrs. Trump has attended none of her husband’s rallies since he announced his candidacy in late 2022, nor did she accompany him to any of his court appearances in recent months. 

Trump moved on from the assassination attempt story to say that America is one nation, regardless of one’s party registration.

That call for unity was brief, however. Trump laid the gauntlet down for Democrats, demanding the indictments levied against him be dropped, especially in the wake of Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to throw out the classified documents case on the grounds that Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed improperly. 

“If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts.” Trump demanded an election that is “worthy of our people” be held without any legal issues hanging over him. 

Without mentioning President Biden by name — referring only to “the administration” — Trump argued that there are a number of crises facing America that demand immediate action by him and him alone. 

“We are a nation in decline,” the former — and likely future — president warned. He listed inflation, the immigration crisis that has brought “misery, poverty, crime, and disease”, and a series of international conflicts that “a world has seldom been part of.”

Trump made the promise to “drill, baby, drill” and lower tax rates. The reforms in his own tax reform bill, signed in 2017, expire next year, and will be a key legislative battle in 2025. 

Trump made almost no mention of specific policy priorities for his second term, beyond closing the southern border and making the pledge to “drill, baby, drill.” He mentioned his plan to eliminate taxes on tips, though those promises were quickly passed over as the former president trailed off to talk about friends. 

He mentioned the “late, great Hannibal Lecter” — the cannibal antagonist most famously known as being played by Anthony Hopkins, a man who is still alive. “He’d love to have you for dinner,” Trump said of the character. 

He said Mr. Biden’s name only once in passing while he was riffing and not reading off of the teleprompter. He kept referring to a “Mr. Congressman” in the crowd, though it is not known to whom he was speaking. 

He criticized Mr. Biden’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas, the Ukraine–Russia war, and the increasing possibility that Communist China will attack its neighbors in Asia. Trump made no mention of what he would do differently other than being “strong.”

Earlier in the day, Trump seemed animated during speeches by friends from the entertainment world, including his old friend Hulk Hogan, the wrestler. During Mr. Hogan’s speech, Trump blew him a kiss, but during other speeches — including addresses made by his two eldest sons — some online remarked that the former president appeared to be sleeping. 

The chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Ben Wikler, remarked that Trump’s own speech on Thursday made many feel what the former president had been feeling during his sons’ speeches. “Trump kept falling asleep when other people gave speeches at the convention. Now, he’s turning the tables on them,” Mr. Wikler wrote.