Donald Trump on Thursday promised an “unbelievable victory” for Republicans in the November 5 presidential and congressional elections in a speech that closed the congress of the faction that appears united behind his candidacy.

A show of unity on the American right was one of the central features of the conference that began Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Great Lakes region. The contrast with the feverish situation in the rival party, the Democrats, whose ranks are increasingly calling on President Joe Biden to end his re-election race, was striking.

Five days after he was assassinated during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania, the 78-year-old former president reappeared on stage amid tight security to deliver a 90-minute speech as the party’s undisputed leader.

Still wearing a bandage over his right ear, he formally accepted the party’s nomination to be the GOP’s presidential nominee. Its approximately 2,400 delegates had already cast their votes on the first day of the conference on Monday.

“I’m running to be the president of all of America, not half of it,” he said in his speech, which had some “unifying” notes, although most of the score was devoted to the issues he likes to raise: crime, irregular immigration, inflation…

He referred to his assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, though he said it was “painful” for him.

“Just a few days ago, my journey with you almost came to an abrupt end. And yet here we are tonight”, stated the candidate, who attributed the fact that he is alive to divine intervention.

When the shots were heard, “I immediately understood that it was something very serious, that we were under attack,” he recounted, in his first public speech after the attempt, still wearing a bandage on his right ear.

“There was blood everywhere. And yet, in a way, I felt safe, because I had God with me,” added the former president.

The shot in which the candidate pauses moments before Secret Service agents rush him away to address his supporters, face bloodied but fist raised, shouting “Fight!” (“fight!”), has become an electoral asset and was played continuously at the conference, since it shows, according to his supporters, the courage of the man: even though they tried to kill him, he never gives up, is their message.

The former president called for a moment of silence for Cory Comperatore, the 50-year-old firefighter who was killed when he was hit by one of the bullets intended for him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

But most of Mr. Trump’s speech was classic, it was opinions and positions he repeats over and over in his campaign appearances.

He referred extensively to the “invasion”, according to him and his faction, of immigrants in the US, promising to put an end to this “crisis” already from the “first day” of his possible new term, “closing the borders”, while committing to complete the construction of the anti-immigration wall on the border with Mexico.

“I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing our borders and finishing the wall,” the former president assured, revisiting his grandiose plans for the problem that ran into many obstacles, particularly in courtrooms, during his first term.

He also pledged to favor the exploration and exploitation of oil fields and to undo measures to prevent climate change taken by Mr. Biden’s administration. He promised to redirect all funds allocated to what he called the “green scam”. He had withdrawn the US from the Paris climate agreement during his tenure.

At the same time, he made sure to avoid topics that could cost him, such as abortion.

He promised to “save” the country from the “incompetent and failed” administration of his Democratic successor Joe Biden, repeating the theory that America is a “nation in decline.”

President Biden himself — in a very difficult position politically and in isolation as he has COVID — was surprisingly not personally targeted in Mr. Trump’s speech.

During it, he called for the opposition and “political dissent” not to be “demonized”, referring to the criminal charges against him.

Some 24 hours after the assassination attempt, the former president demanded that Democrats “immediately” stop calling him an “enemy of democracy,” a “threat” to the state — while at the same time accusing the rival party of “destroying our country.” .

In the audience were the main figures of the party. Already, on Tuesday, his former rivals in the internal party race for his anointing pledged their allegiance.

Making some sporadic references to international issues, he touched on the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, claiming that “it would never have broken out” if he had been president, while addressing “the whole world” he emphasized “I tell you this: our hostages the good I want you to have returned before I take power because otherwise you will pay very dearly,” apparently referring to the Palestinian Islamist movement.

More broadly, Mr Trump portrayed himself as a leader of mega-international clout, able to end conflicts “with a phone call”, recalling his negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“I think he misses me,” Mr Trump joked, promising that if he returned to the White House, nuclear-armed North Korea would halt its missile tests.

“Our adversaries inherited a peaceful world and transformed it into a planet at war (…) Look at the attack on Israel. Look at what is happening in Ukraine,” he said.

The evening ended with the traditional release of thousands of balloons in the colors of the American flag. Next to Donald Trump on stage were members of his family, his wife Melania and his sons, who eulogized their father from the podium in their speeches at the convention. Also present, in the inner circle: J. D. Vance, the 39-year-old senator with an unusual profile whom the tycoon named his running mate.