A day after being grazed by an assassin’s bullet, Donald Trump landed in Milwaukee for his party convention in a display of defiance as he demonstrates that he is already back at work.
He spent Sunday on calls to world leaders, journalists and allies before announcing that the attack would not knock him off a busy schedule.
But at the same time, aides have quietly let it be known that the convention—expected to be a rowdy, Democrat-baiting coronation for the nominee—must be a more muted affair.
Trump himself said he has completely rewritten the speech he is due to deliver on Thursday.
‘Unite America!’ Trump posted on Truth Social after revealing that he would be flying to Milwaukee as planned.
He is expected to make his first public appearance on Monday when he may (or may not) announce his vice presidential pick before his big set-piece speech on the final night of the convention.
‘The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,’ he told the Washington Examiner.
‘Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches aimed mostly at the policies of President Joe Biden.
‘Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now,’ he added.
People who spoke to him said he was in good spirits throughout the day and was intent on showing that life goes on.
‘Instead of going back to Florida, or instead of staying at Bedminster, he comes to Milwaukee, a little early, instead of late, which most all the prognosticator said he was going to do,’ said Trump confidant and party committeeman for Maryland,’ said Trump confidant David Bossie and party committeeman from Maryland.
‘it’s what leaders do. They want to dispel the idea that anything’s wrong.’
A day earlier, a gunman came close to ending his life.
Instead, Trump turned his head at the vital moment and ended up with a bloody ear. He was hustled off stage by his Secret Service detail, but not before give his supporters a clenched fist salute.
Since then he has cut the figure of a leader intent on getting on with business.
He has spoken by phone to President Joe Biden, the new British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
‘You would think he would be down,’ said Fox News host Lawrence Jones, who spoke with the former president on Sunday.
‘He’s in the saddle. He’s excited.’
Trump himself said he was not going to let a gunman upend his campaign or his life.
‘Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a “shooter,” or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else,’ he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump’s plane landed at MIlwaukee at about 6pm local time. He raised a fist as he descended the steps.
Attendees will notice some changes to the party’s four-yearly jamboree.
Security was already tight, with a 10-ft barrier erected around the Fiserv Forum and dirty-bomb sniffing helicopters in the air.
But a source told DailyMail.com that senior Trump aides had asked for a more sober tone to proceedings than in previous years.
‘It won’t be all kumbaya,’ they said, standing on the convention floor beneath a ceiling already filled with red, white, blue, and gold balloons ready to be released.
‘But there’ll be more about unity and a bit less of the attacks.’
Bossie said no one had told delegates to change their tone. Governors, senators or U.S. representatives knew what was expected of them.
‘if you know how to read the nation, you’re going to deliver remarks that are reflective of that,’ he said.
‘And I’m not saying … what they may or may not have said was wrong. It’s just maybe they say it in a different way. That’s really what it is.’