Thank you for reading The Australian Financial Review news blog today. Our stories included:

• ‘Drill, baby, drill’: Trump vows to seal borders on day one: The former president struck an unusually conciliatory tone during the speech’s opening moments but quickly pivoted to well-worn attacks on the Biden administration,
• What happens if Biden drops out of the presidential race?: Vice president Kamala Harris is the likeliest candidate to replace Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, but her nomination is not a sure thing.
• How Donald Trump went from pariah to political saviour: The former president was in the wilderness not much more than a year ago, but now he is back. The seven battleground states will be the ultimate judge.