Iran on Thursday (April 2, 2026) threatened “crushing” attacks on the U.S. and Israel, firing missiles at Tel Aviv after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to bomb the Islamic republic “back to the Stone Ages”.

The war, which erupted more than a month ago with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread throughout the Middle East and roiled the global economy, impacting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

In a prime-time White House address, Mr. Trump said the U.S. was “very close” to achieving its objectives but warned attacks would intensify if Iran did not reach a negotiated settlement.

“Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” said Mr. Trump in a 19-minute speech.

Iran’s response was immediate, with Israeli air defences pressed into action and police responding to “several” impact sites, as four people were reportedly injured in the Tel Aviv area.

The Iranian military command centre Khatam Al-Anbiya put out a statement carried on state TV warning the U.S. and Israel to expect “more crushing, broader, and more destructive actions”.

“With trust in Almighty God, this war will continue until your humiliation, disgrace, permanent and certain regret, and surrender,” said the statement.

The latest attacks came as Jewish Israelis were celebrating Passover, which some were forced to do underground.

“This is not my first choice,” said a writer who gave his name as Jeffrey, at a meal organised in a bunker in Tel Aviv. “But at least in the shelter, we can sit here and just ride it out,” he added.

‘Resist until the end’

Mr. Trump has recently raised the possibility of a deal to end the war, which has pushed up fuel prices in the U.S. and around the world, and pushed down his approval ratings.

He said talks could be possible with Iran’s new leadership, which he described as “less radical and much more reasonable” than their predecessors.

But Tehran has dismissed Washington’s ceasefire overtures, describing U.S. demands to end the conflict as “maximalist and irrational”.

“Messages have been received through intermediaries, including Pakistan, but there is no direct negotiation with the U.S.,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, quoted by the ISNA news agency on Thursday.

Mr. Trump warned that if no agreement with Tehran was struck, Washington had “our eyes on key targets including the country’s electric generating plants”.

Pro-government Iranians voiced defiance as they marched in Tehran at the funeral of a Revolutionary Guards naval commander killed in an Israeli strike.

“This war has lasted a month. However long it takes, we will continue,” said Moussa Nowruzi, a 57-year-old pensioner. “We will resist until the end.”

The country’s Health Ministry said the Pasteur Institute of Iran, a century-old medical centre in Tehran, had been extensively damaged in a strike.

In Lebanon, militant group Hezbollah said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Thursday, with the Israeli military’s Home Front Command saying air raid sirens were activated.

A day earlier, Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander, two sources told AFP, in a Beirut strike that the Lebanese Health Ministry said killed seven people.

Authorities in Lebanon say Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,300 people in the country since war erupted between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah on March 2.

‘Oxygen for volatility’

The conflict has drawn in Gulf countries once seen as a safe haven in a volatile region, with air defences in the United Arab Emirates responding to missile and drone threats on Thursday.

Mr. Trump vowed the U.S. would not allow allies in the region – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain – to “get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form”.

The war has highlighted the importance of the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping lane through which one-fifth of the world’s oil usually passes.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have vowed to keep it shut to the country’s “enemies” while Mr. Trump has made reopening it a condition for a ceasefire.

China is a major importer of oil through the vital waterway and the Foreign Ministry in Beijing blamed the U.S. and Israel for being the “root cause” of disruption.

Britain will lead a summit of 35 countries later on Thursday to discuss how to restore freedom of navigation in the strait.

Mr. Trump’s speech did nothing to reassure markets, as oil prices spiked and stocks tumbled.

The World Bank’s Managing Director Paschal Donohoe told AFP his institution was “extremely concerned” about the war’s impact on inflation, jobs and food security.

Published – April 02, 2026 04:18 pm IST

President Donald Trump delivered a 30-minute speech from the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, his second inaugural address to the American people.

Here is a transcript:

Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris and my fellow citizens:

The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation. And we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.

Follow Trump inauguration LIVE updates on January 20 here

During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud and prosperous and free.

America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country. Sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.

But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing and the United States of America. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, the radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens. While the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, we now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad.

It fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people.

Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, who’ve been treated so badly. And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago. Or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense. They’re raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don’t have a home any longer. That’s interesting.

But we can’t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change. We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today and will change very quickly.

Our recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom. From this moment on, America’s decline is over.

Our liberties and our nation’s glorious destiny will no longer be denied and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of America’s government. Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way. The journey to reclaim our Republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.

That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. For American citizens, Jan. 20, 2025, is Liberation Day.

It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country. As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society. Young and old, men and women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, urban, suburban and rural. And, very importantly, we had a powerful win in all seven swing states and the popular vote. We won by millions of people.

To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records, and I will not forget it. I’ve heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come.

Today is Martin Luther King Day and his honour — this will be a great honour — but in his honour, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.

National unity is now returning to America and confidence and pride is soaring like never before. In everything we do my administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution. And we will not forget our God.

Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It’s all about common sense. First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I sign today we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.

As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions. And that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Next, I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.

America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth. And we are going to use it. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again. And it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.

With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers. In other words, you’ll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the auto workers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.

Also Read | Trump ends CBP One, a Biden-era border app that gave legal entry to nearly 1 million migrants

I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources.

The American Dream will soon be back and thriving like never before. To restore confidence and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency.

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the Constitution and the rule of law. And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.

This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. This week I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from the military for objecting to the Covid vaccine mandate with full back pay. And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It’s going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission—defeating America’s enemies. Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen.

We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end. And, perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be. A peacemaker and a unifier. I’m pleased to say that, as of yesterday, one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families.

America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. And we will restore the name of the great President William McKinley to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent.

He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States — the United States, I mean, think of this, spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama’s promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.

Above all, my message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization. So as we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be deterred. Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy and disease free. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.

And it’s the lifeblood of a great nation. And, right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There’s no nation like our nation. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls. Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one comes close. Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted millions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand. If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve.

Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am. The American people have spoken. I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do. In America, the impossible is what we do best. From New York to Los Angeles, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, from Chicago to Miami, from Houston to right here in Washington, D.C., our country was forged and built by the generations of patriots who gave everything they had for our rights and for our freedom. They were farmers and soldiers, cowboys and factory workers, steel workers and coal miners, police officers and pioneers who pushed onward, marched forward and let no obstacle defeat their spirit or their pride. Together they laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, built great highways, won two world wars, defeated fascism and communism, and triumphed over every single challenge that they faced.

After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore an American promise and we will rebuild the nation that we love. And we love it so much. We are one people, one family and one glorious nation under God. So to every parent who dreams for their child and every child to dreams for their future: I am with you, I will fight for you and I will win for you. And we’re going to win like never before.

Also Read | Trump to withdraw from Paris climate agreement, White House says

In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly. But we are going to bring it back and make it great again. Greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other. Full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable.

America will be respected again and admired again, including by people of religion, faith and goodwill. We will be prosperous. We will be proud. We will be strong and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered. We will not be intimidated. We will not be broken. And we will not fail.

From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation. We will stand bravely. We will live proudly. We will dream boldly, and nothing will stand in our way. Because we are Americans. The future is ours. And our golden age has just begun.

Thank you. God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you.

Watch: Donald Trump’s final speech before inauguration

 Donald Trump Inauguration Day: When and where to watch 

On the eve of his inauguration, US President-elect Donald Trump held a final rally to celebrate his election victory, proclaiming to the crowd, “We won,” as they rejoiced in his return to the White House.

 Supporters filled nearly all of the 20,000-plus-seat Capital One Arena to attend the event.   “Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country. We have to do it,” Trump told his supporters.            

 Others taking the stage included Stephen Miller, Trump’s pick to be deputy chief of staff, Elon Musk who is also Trump’s pick for Department of Government Efficiency, Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East among others.

Donald Trump has invited a number of tech titans to attend the inauguration, joining more traditional guests such as his cabinet nominees. Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will attend as will Shou Chew, the head of Chinese social media giant TikTok, according to US media.

Trump has courted closer ties with the tech moguls, and his campaign benefited from disinformation spread on social media platforms such as TikTok, Musk’s X and Zuckerberg’s Facebook and Instagram.

Outgoing president Joe Biden will attend the ceremony — despite Trump’s refusal to appear at Biden’s swearing-in when he beat Trump in 2020. All living former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — will also attend, as will their wives, except for Michelle Obama.

Heads of state are not traditionally invited, but Trump has sent invitations to a handful of foreign leaders, including some who share his right-wing politics.  Far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend, her office confirmed Saturday.

Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Argentine President Javier Milei and China’s Xi Jinping have also been invited, but not all will attend. Xi sent Vice President Han Zheng in his place, who met Sunday with J.D. Vance, the transition office said. 

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration on January 19, 2025, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump used one last rally on the eve of his inauguration to again celebrate his election victory, declaring Sunday “We won” to a crowd celebrating his return to the White House and projecting defiant optimism despite deep national political divisions.

Also read | Inauguration Day, Trump-style: What will happen?

“Tomorrow, at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride,” Mr. Trump told his supporters, adding, “We not only won a mandate, but we built a new American majority that will lead our country to success for generations to come.”

Supporters filled nearly all of the 20,000-plus-seat Capital One Arena to hear a performance by Kid Rock, who performed “All Summer Long” despite a cold mix of rain and snow falling outside.

Others taking the stage included singer Lee Greenwood, whose “God Bless the USA” was the anthem of Mr. Trump’s reeelection campaign.

“Our hero. A man who never gave up on the American people, and we the people never gave up on him,” actor Jon Voight told the crowd.

Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s pick to be deputy chief of staff and a key architect of the administration’s promised hard-line immigration polices, vowed that “justice is coming”.

“We are about to get our country back and our democracy back,” Mr. Miller said, adding, “Donald J. Trump is about to save this country.”

Donald Trump has promised to sign a series of executive actions, including on U.S.-Mexico border policy.

Sunday was his first full day back in Washington and gave the president-elect a chance to energise core supporters before the official pomp of Inauguration Day.

Mr. Trump had breakfast privately with Republican senators at Blair House, the president’s official guest residence, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House and later posed for a picture with the 10 Republican female senators and his incoming chief-of-staff, Susie Wiles.

Unlike when Mr. Trump helped spark a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol and tried to retain power in 2021 after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, officials did not expect massive protests, unrest or violence.

Instead, jubilant crowds celebrated Mr. Trump’s second term and MAGA’s total control of the Republican Party.

Many arrived from around the country and were decked out in their fanciest clothes, including fur coats.

Trump supporters filled parties at hotels and restaurants around Washington. As they moved between the festivities, some could be heard chanting “MAGA” or simply stating it as a greeting to fellow revellers.

The atmosphere was a remarkable turnaround from four years ago, when Mr. Trump left the nation’s capital in disgrace and skipped the inauguration of his successor Biden.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: AP

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, his fourth campaign stop in a month in what has become the 2024 campaign’s most hotly contested state.

The former president had begun addressing supporters in Erie, in Pennsylvania’s northwest corner, shortly after 2 p.m. local time (1800 GMT). His rally comes one month to the day after his running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, held his own event in the lakeside city, and six days before Trump is due to hold another rally in western Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5.

Many allies and informal advisers to Trump privately characterize Pennsylvania as the most important of the battleground states in the Nov. 5 election.

Of the seven competitive states that both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival, have a realistic shot at winning, Pennsylvania is the most populous and awards the most votes in the Electoral College, which in turn is used to select the overall winner of the election.

Trump allies broadly believe that if the former president beats Harris there, he is likely to return to the White House. But if Trump loses to Harris in Pennsylvania, the vice president has the inside track.

In a reflection of the stakes, Harris and Trump have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on ads in Pennsylvania in the months before the election, more than any other state in both gross and per capita terms.

Erie, the site of Trump’s rally, is a battleground inside a battleground. Erie County is one of two Pennsylvania counties that favored Trump in the 2016 election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton before favoring President Joe Biden against Trump in 2020.

Trump narrowly won the state and the election overall in 2016, before losing both in 2020.

This time around, Pennsylvania is again competitive, according to surveys. Harris leads Trump by 1.6 percentage points in the state, according to an average of polls maintained by polling and analysis website FiveThirtyEight. That difference is well within almost all polls’ margin of error.

Trump’s next rally in Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, will take place in Butler, about 100 miles (160 km) south of Erie. That town was the site of a failed assassination attempt on Trump in July. A bullet grazed the former president’s ear.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 20, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
| Photo Credit: AP

Donald Trump, holding his first campaign rally Saturday since surviving an assassination attempt, dismissed concerns that he is a threat to democracy, triumphantly telling a cheering crowd: “Last week I took a bullet for democracy.”

“I’m not an extremist at all,” he continued at the rally in swing state of Michigan, dismissing his reported links to Project 2025, a radical shadow manifesto led by figures close to him that has been characterised by opponents as an authoritarian, right-wing wish list.

ALSO READ: How the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump unfolded

And he mocked the rival Democratic Party, roiled by unprecedented pressure for President Joe Biden to abandon the White House race amid concerns over his age and fitness to serve, if reelected, until 2029.

“They have no idea who their candidate is… This guy goes and he gets the votes, and now they want to take it away. That’s democracy,” Mr. Trump told the 12,000-strong crowd of passionate supporters.

Even as he veered into his typical, rambling campaign speech, the rally represented a moment remarkable by any measure, with Mr. Trump back on stage exactly one week since a gunman tried to kill him.

The Republican presidential nominee appeared wearing a new, smaller, flesh-coloured bandage over his right ear, bloodied in the attack by a 20-year-old gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania that killed one bystander.

Security was reportedly tight inside the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, amid questions over Secret Service lapses at the Pennsylvania rally — though there were few visible signs of any greater law enforcement presence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Biden loyalists continued to defend the embattled president as the drumbeat of calls for him to abandon his campaign grows louder.

The 81-year-old and his team have remained publicly adamant that he is staying in the race, though some reports suggest discussions have begun in his inner circle about how exactly he might step aside.

Biden’s ‘big decision’

There has been massive speculation over who could replace him. As vice president, Ms. Harris appears best positioned to do so.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive who sought the party’s presidential nod in 2020, gave Ms. Harris a boost Saturday without turning her back on the president.

“Joe Biden is our nominee,” she said on MSNBC. “He has a really big decision to make.

“But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up, to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump, and to win in November.”

Some Democrats, however, fear that such a late switch could trigger chaos, dooming the party at the polls.

Team Trump, for its part, is effervescent after an exceptional streak of luck — from the failed assassination bid to favorable court rulings and Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month.

“I had God on my side,” he told the Republican National Convention Thursday, at which he demonstrated his absolute control over the party, firing supporters up to a rare pitch.

Saturday was Mr. Trump’s debut campaign appearance with running mate J.D. Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio who at age 39 could help win over critical swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Ahead of Mr. Trump’s speech, Mr. Vance warmed up the crowd, taking a swipe at Ms. Harris.

“I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and build a business. What the hell have you done, other than collect a check?” he said of the former U.S. senator and California attorney general.

Mr. Trump’s supporters had begun lining up in their dozens in Grand Rapids on Friday, nearly a full day before the rally began.

Edward Young, 64, preparing for his 81st Trump rally, was wearing a T-shirt showing the already iconic photo of Mr. Trump pumping his fist immediately after being shot.

“They have turned him into a martyr and left him alive,” he said. “Now he’s more powerful than ever.”

Donald Trump, defiant and bandaged, accepted the GOP presidential nomination on July 18 at the Republican National Convention in a speech that described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration.

The 78-year-old former president, known best for his bombast and aggressive rhetoric, began his acceptance speech with a softer and deeply personal message that drew directly from his brush with death. Moment by moment, the crowd listening in silence, Trump described standing onstage in Butler, Pennsylvania, with his head turned to look at a chart on display when he felt something hit his ear. He raised his hand to his head and saw immediately that it was covered in blood.

“If I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark,” Trump said. “And I would not be here tonight. We would not be together.”

Trump’s address, the longest convention speech in modern history at just under 93 minutes, marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates. Sensing political opportunity in the wake of his near-death experience, the often bombastic Republican leader embraced a new tone he hopes will help generate even more momentum in an election that appears to be shifting in his favor.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he sustained in the Saturday shooting. “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

While he spoke in a gentler tone than at his usual rallies, Trump also outlined an agenda led by what he promises would be the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. He repeatedly accused people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally of staging an “invasion.” Additionally, he teased new tariffs on trade and an “America first” foreign policy.

Trump also falsely suggested Democrats had cheated during the 2020 election he lost — despite a raft of federal and state investigations proving there was no systemic fraud — and suggested “we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,” even as he has long called for prosecutions of his opponents.

He did not mention abortion rights, an issue that has bedeviled Republicans ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federally guaranteed right to abortion two years ago. Trump nominated three of the six justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump at his rallies often takes credit for Roe being overturned and argues states should have the right to institute their own abortion laws.

Nor did he mention the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in which Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has long referred to the people jailed for the riot as “hostages.”

Also read | Republicans find god’s plans in Trump’s escape 

Indeed, Trump barely mentioned Mr. Biden, often referring only to the “current administration.”

“It was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, ripped away rights, and failed middle class families,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Biden campaign chair, in a statement after the speech. “Now he pursues the presidency with an even more extreme vision for where he wants to take this country.”

With less than four months to go in the contest, major changes in the race are possible, if not likely.

Trump’s appearance came as Mr. Biden, the 81-year-old Democratic incumbent, clings to his party’s presumptive nomination in the face of unrelenting pressure from key congressional allies, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fear he may be unable to win reelection after his disastrous debate.

Long pressed by allies to campaign more vigorously, Mr. Biden is instead in isolation at his beach home in Delaware after having been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Hours before the balloons were scheduled to rain down on Trump and his family inside the convention hall, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks appeared nearby in Milwaukee and insisted over and over that Mr. Biden would not step aside.

“I do not want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times I can answer that,” Fulks told reporters. “There are no plans being made to replace Biden on the ballot.”

Thursday’s RNC program seemed designed to project strength and masculinity in an implicit rebuke of Mr. Biden.

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White called Trump “a real American bad ass.” Kid Rock performed a song with the chorus, “Fight, fight!,” echoing the word Trump mouthed on stage in Pennsylvania as Secret Service agents surrounded him. And wrestling icon Hulk Hogan described the former president as “an American hero.”

Hogan drew a raucous response when, standing on the main stage, he ripped off his shirt to reveal a red “Make America Great Again” shirt.

“As an entertainer, I try to stay out of politics,” Hogan said as he briefly broke character. “I can no longer stay silent.”

Like many speakers during the convention, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that recent events were divinely inspired and that he wondered “if something bigger is going on.”

“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not lashing out in anger afterward.

“He did his best to bring the country together,” Carlson added. “This is the most responsible, unifying behavior from a leader I’ve ever seen.”

Former first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter and former senior adviser, joined Trump in the convention hall ahead of his speech, making their first appearances there. Neither woman spoke.

At nearly 93 minutes, the former president’s speech eclipsed the 74 minutes for which he spoke eight years ago, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The convention has showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party’s grassroots on his way to the party’s 2016 nomination. Rivals Trump has vanquished — including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — put aside their past criticisms and gave him their unqualified support.

Even his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s choice to carry his movement into the next generation, was once a fierce critic who suggested in a private message since made public that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”

Security was a major focus in Milwaukee in the wake of Trump’s near-assassination. But after nearly four full days, there were no serious incidents inside the convention hall or the large security perimeter that surrounded it.

The Secret Service, backed by hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the nation, had a large and visible presence. And during Trump’s appearances each night, he was surrounded by a wall of protective agents wherever he went.

Meanwhile, Trump and his campaign have not released information about his injury or the treatment he received. The former president on Thursday described his story of surviving the attack — and vowed he would not talk about it again.

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump told the packed convention hall. The crowd of thousands, which was listening in silence, shouted back, “Yes, you are.”