For a brief moment last night, Americans saw Donald Trump try something new: Stick to a script. Addressing delegates at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, the former president—and freshly anointed Republican nominee—read slowly and dramatically from a teleprompter as he recounted his near-death experience in Butler, Pennsylvania.  
“I’ll tell you exactly what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell,” he said.

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In his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump is more open about his pro-business stance than he’s ever been, and some corporate leaders have been warming to his pitch. But his choice of J. D. Vance as his running mate complicates his newfound bond with big business.

In a different election year, a place like Milwaukee’s Zeidler Union Square would surely have been teeming with people, marching around with Sharpied signs and chanting about fascism. Instead, the square, an official protest zone located a few blocks from the Republican National Convention, was like a scene from some postapocalyptic tale. This afternoon’s designated protest zone was a wide, mostly empty expanse of lush grass.

Republicans view President Joe Biden as old, feeble, and, most importantly, beatable. Members of the GOP badly want him to remain in the race. This much was clear from my conversations with delegates on the grounds of the Republican National Convention this afternoon.
Vice President Kamala Harris, should she replace Biden as the 2024 Democratic nominee, is likewise not seen by this crowd as a formidable threat to Donald Trump. “She’s not articulate. She doesn’t know America.

Words matter in international diplomacy, and Donald Trump has spewed out some that are especially dangerous. He signaled that he might not defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion. “Taiwan should pay us for defense,” he told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview released on Tuesday. “You know, we’re no different than an insurance company.” Trump went on to imply that protecting the island was not even possible. “Taiwan is 9,500 miles away,” he said. “It’s 68 miles away from China.

J.D. Vance’s speech at the Republican National Convention completed his transformation from Never-Trumper to Trump’s MAGA torch-bearer.
Vance dutifully spent his first five minutes praising the GOP leader sitting in front of him. “Consider the lies they told you about Donald Trump,” he told the crowd. “And then look at that photo of him, defiant fist in the air.”
When he turned to policy, he sounded especially Trumpian.

What happened to the Ohio GOP? For generations, it was the epitome of a sane, high-functioning party with a boringly predictable pro-business sentiment that seemed to perfectly fit the state. Today, it has been remade in the image of native son J. D. Vance, the first vice-presidential candidate to sanction coup-plotting against the U.S. government.

Today, for the third time in two years, President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said. The president was in Las Vegas—attempting to convince voters, donors, and his fellow lawmakers that he is still the candidate best poised to defeat former President Donald Trump in November—when he fell ill with a runny nose and cough, according to a White House statement. He’s already taking the antiviral Paxlovid and will isolate at his home in Delaware.

President Joe Biden has spent the past three weeks desperately trying to convince Democrats that he’s still got what it takes to win reelection. He’s campaigned more vigorously than he has in years, holding rallies, sitting for televised interviews, conducting an hour-long press conference, and pleading his case directly to members of Congress in phone calls and Zoom meetings.
It’s not working.

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The Republican National Convention is more than halfway through, and the mood is serene—even spiritual. I spoke with my colleague Mark Leibovich, who is at the convention in Milwaukee, about how the attempted assassination of Donald Trump has only reinforced confidence within his party.