Former U.S. president Donald Trump called for the release of American hostages on Thursday during his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“To the entire world, I tell you this: We want our hostages back, and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price,” Trump said. “With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness and chaos will be over.”
Trump did not specify to which hostages he was referring. Hamas kidnapped eight U.S. citizens on Oct. 7, and Russia holds two Americans that the U.S. State Department considers “wrongfully detained,” including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian penal colony on Friday for “espionage.”
Speaking for an hour and 33 minutes and finishing after midnight on the East Coast, Trump delivered an acceptance speech that was the longest of its kind in U.S. history.
The former president opened his remarks with a call for unity and a description of the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pa., on Saturday in which an innocent man was killed and two people were seriously injured.
“The assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life,” Trump said. “I will tell you exactly what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell.”
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard. On my right ear. I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet,’” he said. “Moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down. My hand was covered with blood. Just absolutely blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious—that we were under attack.”
The Secret Service has faced criticism from elected officials in recent days over questions about how the shooter gained access to a rooftop within 150 yards of the former president, but Trump credited the agents with saving his life.
“These are great people at great risk, I will tell you, and pounced on top of me so that I would be protected,” he said. “There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side.”
Trump added that he was “not supposed to be here tonight” after the assassination attempt. The crowd responded loudly, “Yes you are.”
After discussing the attempted assassination and paying tribute to the victims, Trump spoke in a manner that more closely resembled his performance during campaign rallies. He riffed on the record of his first term and the failures of which he accused the Biden administration.
In separate portions on foreign policy, Trump repeated his claim that Hamas would not have launched the Oct. 7 attacks if he had been president.
“I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created, including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine, which would have never happened if I was president,” Trump said. “The war caused by the attack on Israel, which would never have happened if I was president.”
“Iran was broke,” he said. “Iran had no money. Now Iran has $250 billion. They made it all over the last two-and-a-half-years. They were broke.”
Trump also said that he intended to build an “iron dome” over the United States and referenced the successful U.S. and Israeli shootdown of a massive barrage of Iranian rockets in April.
“We’re going to build an iron dome over our country, and we’re going to be sure that nothing can come and harm our people,” Trump said. “From an economic development standpoint, I’m going to make it alright here. No more sending it out to other countries in order to help.”
“It’s America first,” he said. “America first.”
Iron Dome is a short-range rocket and mortar defense system co-produced by the United States and Israel, but the term is widely used to refer to the wider range of anti-missile defense platforms Israel uses that also includes the Arrow and David’s Sling systems.
