Trump appears with bandaged ear at Republican convention

Donald Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention with a bandage over his right ear, two days after surviving an attempted assassination.

Delegates cheered wildly as Mr Trump appeared onscreen backstage and then emerged to the strains God Bless The USA.

Mr Trump did not address the convention with his acceptance speech scheduled for Thursday.

His appearance came hours after jubilant delegates nominated the former president to lead their ticket for a third time and welcomed Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.

The former president announced his choice of his running mate on his Truth Social platform as delegates in Milwaukee were voting on his nomination on Monday.

He hit the necessary threshold with votes from his home state of Florida, announced by his son Eric.

“We must unite as a party, and we must unite as a nation,” said Republican Party chairman Michael Whatley, Mr Trump’s hand-picked party leader, as he opened Monday’s primetime national convention session.

“We must show the same strength and resilience as President Trump and lead this nation to a greater future.”

But Mr Whatley and other Republican leaders made clear their calls for harmony did not extend to President Joe Biden and Democrats.

“Their policies are a clear and present danger to America, to our institutions, our values and our people,” said Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, welcoming the party to his battleground state, which Mr Trump won in 2016 but lost to Mr Biden four years ago.

Also on Monday, President Joe Biden told NBC News that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bullseye” on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric coming from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Mr Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.

Those remarks came during a private call with donors last week when Mr Biden declared he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and that it was “time to put Trump in the bullseye”, saying the former president has had far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.

Insisting “there was very little focus on Trump’s agenda,” Mr Biden told NBC anchor Lester Holt that while he acknowledged his “mistake” he nonetheless is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one” and that he wanted the focus to be on what Mr Trump was saying.

It is Mr Trump, not Mr Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Mr Biden said, referring to Mr Trump’s past comments about a “bloodbath” if the Republican loses to Mr Biden in November.

“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Mr Biden said. “Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?”