Republican National Convention: Donald Trump slams ‘destroyer’ Joe Biden in acceptance speech
Donald Trump lashed Joe Biden as he accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, warning the former VP “will be the destroyer of American Greatness”.
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Donald Trump has formally accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for US president from a stage at the White House.
“My fellow Americans, tonight with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States,” Mr Trump said.
“I stand before you tonight honoured by your support, proud of the extraordinary progress we have made over the last four years, and brimming with confidence. over the next four years.”
Mr Trump described the November poll as “the most important election in the history of our country”.
“Despite all of our greatness as a nation, everything we have achieved is now endangered,” he said.
“At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas.
“This election will decide whether we save the American Dream, or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.
“Your vote will decide whether we protect law abiding Americans, or whether we give free reign to violent anarchists, agitators, and criminals who threaten our citizens.”
He described last week’s Democratic National Convention was a power grab from the party’s left wing, which he said was fostering the current civil unrest in America’s cities.
“Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic, and social injustice,” he said.
“So tonight, I ask you a very simple question: How can the Democrat Party ask to lead our country when it spends so much time tearing down our country?”
And he said Mr Biden had achieved little to help Americans in his 47 years in Washington.
“Joe Biden is not the saviour of America’s soul – he is the destroyer of America’s Jobs, and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American Greatness,” he said.
“For 47 years, Joe Biden took the donations of blue collar workers, gave them hugs and even kisses, and told them he felt their pain – and then he flew back to Washington and voted to ship their jobs to China and many other distant lands.
“Joe Biden spent his entire career outsourcing the dreams of American Workers, offshoring their jobs, opening their borders, and sending their sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars.”
As Mr Trump spoke, protesters gathered outside the White House performed a mock execution of the president, laying a dummy dressed as him underneath a guillotine.
Someone just put a fake Trump on the guillotine in front of the White House. There’s a piece of paper on him that says “Ticket - Fascist, Rapist, Criminalâ€@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/zOmQ7DgIo0
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) August 28, 2020
First Daughter Ivanka Trump introduced him to the stage and defended her father’s unorthodox leadership and unconventional communication style.
Describing him as a Washington outsider who “knows what he believes and says what he thinks” she drew cheers of “four more years” from a crowd of 1500 supporters gathered at the White House South Lawn.
“I have seen in Washington it’s easy for politicians to survive if they silence their convictions,” she said, criticising the traditional approach to “kick the can”.
“Donald Trump did not come to Washington to win praise from the beltway elites,” she said.
“Donald Trump came to Washington for one reason and one reason alone, to make America great again.”
She added: “I recognise that my dad’s communication style is not to everyone’s taste.
“I know that his tweets can feel a bit unfiltered but his results, the results speak for themselves.”
Ms Trump also used her speech at the Republican National Convention to pay tribute to the close to 180,000 American lives lost to the coronavirus and to the victims of Hurricane Laura, which hit Louisiana overnight.
She also said she had seen the “pain in her eyes” of her father, who has been criticised for his Covid response.
Wearing a navy off the shoulder top and black pants, Ms Trump said: “Dad, people attack you for being unconventional but I love you for being real”.
“Washington has not changed Donald Trump, Donald Trump has changed Washington.
“America doesn’t need another empty vessel … now more than ever America needs another four more years of a warrior in the White House.”
Speakers at the final night of the Republican Convention included a prisoner who was freed after Kim Kardashian personally appealed to Mr Trump on her behalf, a widow whose police officer husband was killed by violent rioters in the chaotic days after George Floyd’s death, and the parents of a murdered hostage who say the Obama administration didn’t do enough to stop their daughter being killed.
Alice Johnson, 63, who spent 20 years of a life sentence in jail on drugs charges before being granted clemency, argued for criminal justice reform.
“When President Trump heard about me – about the injustice of my story – he saw me as a person. He had compassion. And he acted,” she said.
“Free in body thanks to President Trump. But free in mind thanks to the almighty God.”
“My faith in justice and mercy was rewarded. Imagine getting to hug your loved ones again.
“It’s a feeling I will never forget. And to think, this first step meant so much to so many. I can’t wait because we’re just getting started.”
Widow Ann Dorn, whose husband Officer David Dorn, a black man, was killed by violent rioters at a Black Lives Matter protest, argued that Americans need to get behind law enforcement amid escalating calls to defund police.
“I relive that horror in my mind every single day,” she will say of her husband’s death.
“My hope is that having you re-live it with me now will help shake this country from the nightmare we are witnessing in our cities and bring about positive, peaceful change.
“We must heal before we can effect change, but we cannot heal amid devastation and chaos.
“President Trump knows we need more Davids in our communities, not fewer.”
And Marsha and Carl Mueller, whose daughter Kayla was tortured and murdered by the Islamic State, commended Mr Trump for taking down ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in December.
“The Obama administration kept telling us they were doing everything they could,” Mr Mueller said
“But their version of ‘everything’ wasn’t enough.”
He said: “We put all our faith in the government.
“But our government let us down. President Obama refused to meet with us until ISIS had already beheaded other Americans.
“To this day, we’ve never heard from Joe Biden. Instead, the Obama administration hid behind policy so much that we felt hopeless when they kept us from negotiating to save Kayla’s life.
“What a difference a president makes. Under President Trump, US Army special operators conducted a raid on al-Baghdadi’s compound.
“After we learned that al-Baghdadi was killed, we learned something else: The operators named themselves ‘Task Force 814’ after August 14, Kayla’s birthday.”
Outspoken Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton was dispatched to attack “Beijing Biden’s” connections to China.
“Joe Biden aided and abetted China’s rise for fifty years with terrible trade deals that closed our factories and laid off our workers. President Trump stands up to China’s cheating, and stealing, and lying,” he said.
“Joe Biden said the Chinese Communists aren’t even our competitors, aren’t “bad folks” — just months before they unleashed this plague on the world. President Trump is clear-eyed about the Chinese threat, and he’s making China pay.
“But China’s not giving up — in fact, they’re rooting for Joe Biden. America’s other enemies won’t give up either.”
And the chaos in New York was a repeatedly targeted, with addresses by former mayor Rudy Giuliani and Pat Lynch, president of the NYPD’s Police Benevolent Association President, which has offered its first ever presidential endorsement for Mr Trump.
“I have been a New York City police officer for 36 years. I’ve never seen our streets go this bad so quickly,” Mr Lynch said.
“I’ve never heard from so many cops, from every corner of the country, who are saying the same thing: ‘Our hands are tied.’
“Something has to change.
“If we are going to turn the tide and restore law and order, we cannot fall into the left’s trap.
“There is nobody who hates bad cops more than good cops, but that doesn’t matter to the radical left.
“To them, we’re all bad, because we’re all blue.”
‘OPERATION BLOCK IVANKA’: MELANIA’S BAD BLOOD WITH TRUMP’S DAUGHTER
Melania Trump’s former friend claims America’s First Lady was in on a plan to block Donald Trump’s daughter from appearing in photos at his inauguration.
In an excerpt from her upcoming book Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady, published in New York Magazine, Stephanie Wishton Wolkoff claims Mrs Trump planned to keep the President’s eldest daughter absent from election night photo ops.
“We were all exhausted and stressed out. Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was petty. Melania was in on this mission. But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn’t have made herself the centre of attention in her father’s inauguration,” she wrote.
Wolkoff also claims Ivanka Trump was determined to “usurp office space out from under Melania”, and was determined to be “the only visible female Trump on the premises”, and that the tensions between Melania and Ivanka – whom Melania referred to as “princess” – throughout the campaign were rife.
Wolkoff, who has known Mrs Trump for a decade, had a brief stint as an unpaid adviser to the First Lady before she resigned amid reports she was paid $US26 million for her work around Trump’s inauguration.
An administration official hit back at her claims, saying Wolkoff’s behaviour was “the complete opposite of Mrs. Trump’s style.”
The official said Wolkoff had “inflated her relationship with the First Lady”, according to CNN.
TRUMP A ‘PATHOLOGICAL LIAR’: BIDEN
Donald Trump is expected to continue Republican attacks on Democrats’ ability to bring peace to America’s troubled cities when he formally accepts the presidential nomination from his party.
He will also label Mr Biden “extreme” and warn he is under the control of his party’s left wing.
“At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas,” Mr Trump will say, according to Politico.
“We have spent the last four years reversing the damage Joe Biden inflicted over the last 47 years.”
“At the Democrat convention, you barely heard a word about their agenda. But that’s not because they don’t have one.
“It’s because their agenda is the most extreme set of proposals ever put forward by a major party nominee.”
It comes as Mr Trump’s opponent Joe Biden claimed Republicans were taking political advantage of the unrest that has spread each night this week following the police shooting of a black man in Wisconsin, saying Mr Trump was “rooting for more violence, not less”.
Mr Biden also insisted he will debate Mr Trump next month, hours after the Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly urged him not to take part.
“I don’t think there should be any debates,” Mrs Pelosi said. “I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him.”
But Mr Biden said he would be happy to take on Mr Trump and that he was considering doing so with a fact-checker on stage with him.
“I’ve been recommended to me by a number of very competent people who know their way around, including leading Republicans, that I shouldn’t debate Trump unless there’s a fact checker on the ground,” he said to MSNBC.
“I think everybody knows this man has a somewhat pathological tendency not to tell the truth.
“He is a fiction writer in the extreme,” he said.
REPUBLICANS COMPARE PRESENT DAY TO CIVIL WAR
Chaotic, violent protests across US cities have been condemned by Republicans who likened the current climate to what started the American Civil War.
As the fallout grows from the latest police shooting of a black man, speakers at the Republican National Convention warned Americans wouldn’t be safe under a Joe Biden government.
“We will have law and order on the streets of America,” said Vice President Mike Pence.
Republicans are increasingly framing the November poll as a referendum on law and order, decrying the violence in Democrat-run cities and the growth of “cancel culture” and intolerance.
“Rioting and looting is not peaceful protest, tearing down statues is not free speech,” Mr Pence said.
“Last week, Joe Biden didn’t say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country.
“Let me be clear: the violence must stop – whether in Minneapolis, Portland, or Kenosha.”
Mr Pence also repeated attacks on Mr Biden as a “Trojan horse of the radical left” and said he wanted to roll back tariffs set by Mr Trump with China.
Demonstrations in American cities have been likened to the American Civil War and Donald Trump’s challenges compared to those of Abraham Lincoln, at the Republican National Convention.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said the current unrest gripping American cities following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the weekend shooting of Jacob Blake was similar to clashes over slavery before the Civil War.
“When he was just 28 years old, Honest Abe saw wild and furious passions, ‘worse than savage mobs’, he said, taking the place of reasoned judgment. He was alarmed by the increasing disregard for the rule of law throughout the country,” Ms Noem said, quoting an 1838 speech Lincoln gave.
“He was concerned for the people who had seen their property destroyed, their families attacked, and their lives threatened or even taken away. These good people were becoming tired of, and disgusted with, a government that offered them no protection.”
“Sound familiar? It took 244 years to build this great nation – flaws and all – but we stand to lose it in a tiny fraction of that time if we continue down the path taken by the Democrats and their radical supporters.”
Ms Noem said “violent mobs” were taking over cities including Seattle, Portland and New York.
“The violence is rampant. There’s looting, chaos, destruction, and murder. People that can afford to flee have fled. But the people that can’t – good, hardworking Americans – are left to fend for themselves,” she said.
‘WE ARE GOING TO CALL FOR A DRUG TEST’
US President Donald Trump has called for pre-debate drug tests for himself and Joe Biden after becoming suspicious his opponent had taken performance-enhancing drugs during the primary election cycle.
Mr Trump told The Washington Examiner on Wednesday, local time, that he noticed a “big difference” in Mr Biden’s performance in his 11th debate of the primary season, a one-on-one with main rival Bernie Sanders in March.
“Nobody thought that he was even going to win,” Mr Trump was quoted telling the conservative publication in an Oval Office interview.
“Because his debate performances were so bad. Frankly, his best performance was against Bernie.
“We’re going to call for a drug test, by the way, because his best performance was against Bernie. It wasn’t that he was Winston Churchill – because he wasn’t – but it was a normal, boring debate. You know, nothing amazing happened. And we are going to call for a drug test, because there’s no way … you can’t do that.”
Mr Trump offered no evidence for his claim.
Mr Trump is due to face Mr Biden in the first presidential debate on September 29 in Cleveland, Ohio, but the US President has challenged the Democratic nominee to an earlier initial debate because some American states will begin postal and absentee votes before then.
“I don’t know how he could have been so incompetent in his debate performances and then all of a sudden be OK against Bernie,” Mr Trump said of the debate.
“My point is, if you go back and watch some of those numerous debates, he was so bad. He wasn’t even coherent. And against Bernie, he was. And we’re calling for a drug test.”
Mr Trump comments came ahead of the third night of the Republican National Convention, at which Vice President Mike Pence is the keynote speaker arguing for a second Trump term.
MELANIA BREAKS HER SILENCE
On Tuesday, Melania Trump urged Americans to come together “in a civil manner” and argued her husband was the best person to lead the country’s pandemic recovery in her most significant speech since becoming First Lady.
In the longest public address she has given, Mrs Trump told several dozen supporters gathered in the White House Rose Garden in the keynote speech at day two of the Republican National Convention that “we need my husband’s leadership now more than ever”.
Mrs Trump was the first RNC speaker to meaningfully address the toll of the coronavirus as she thanked: “healthcare workers, frontline workers and teachers who stepped up in these difficult times, despite the risks to yourselves and your own families”.
“I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically. The invisible enemy, COVID-19, swept across our beautiful country and impacted all of us,” she said.
“My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one and my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering. I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless.
“I want you to know you are not alone.”
Wearing a belted olive suit, she said that she would not directly criticise her husband’s Democrat opposition because “that kind of talk only serves to divide our country further”.
“I urge people to come together in a civil manner,” she said.
“I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice. And never make assumptions based on the colour of a person’s skin. Instead of tearing things down, let’s reflect on our mistakes.”
Mrs Trump admitted her husband wasn’t a “traditional politician” but said “he is what is best for our country”.
“I am here tonight because we need my husband,” she said.
“Donald Trump makes no secrets about how he feels about things … Whether you like it or not you always know what he is thinking and that is because he is an authentic person.”
She said “it seemed like yesterday” that her husband was running for president the first time.
“The energy and enthusiasm for who should lead this nation is as real today as it was four years ago,” she said.
She said that despite attacks from “the other side … Donald Trump has not and will not lose focus on you”.
“He loves this country and he knows how to get things done. As you have learned one the past five years he is not a traditional politician.”
‘BRING IT ON’
Democrat candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter were the target of a blistering attack from former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, who accused them of acting corruptly while Mr Biden was Vice President to Barack Obama.
Speaking on day two of the Republican National Convention, Ms Bondi described a “pattern of conduct” that showed Mr Biden’s family had benefited in business deals with foreign governments including Ukraine, China and Iran though his position.
“If the Democrats want to make this election a choice between who’s saving America and who’s swindling America, bring it on,” she said.
This is a claim that is vehemently denied by the Biden campaign.
“For Joe Biden, it’s been the land of opportunism, not opportunity,” she said.
“As a career prosecutor … I fought corruption and I know what it looks like, whether it’s done by people wearing pinstripe suits or orange jumpsuits.
“At the Democrats’ convention, we were told to look at Joe Biden as the model of integrity. But, when you look at his 47 year career in politics, the people who benefited are his family members, not the American people.”
TIFFANY TRUMP ON ‘CANCEL CULTURE’
Mr Trump’s youngest daughter Tiffany gave a lengthy speech warning about the dangers of “cancel culture”.
Ms Trump, 26, who has just graduated from law school, described how left wing bullies had made college students scared to speak out.
“For our education system it meant sacrificing civil debate, by creating an atmosphere where students with contrary opinions are too afraid to speak,” she said.
“Many students find themselves suppressing their beliefs to fit into the acceptable groupthink.”
She also backed in another central message of the Trump 2020 campaign, that Mr Trump is the only candidate who can rebuild America’s economy.
“My father built a thriving economy once, and believe me, he will do it again,” she said.
Another cancel culture “victim” to speak out was Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic College student who won record defamation payouts from CNN and other media after they mischaracterized his run-in with a Native American protester last year.
Sandmann was slammed across the country because he was wearing a Make America Great Again cap supporting Mr Trump.
“How could I possibly have imagined that the simple act of putting on that red hat would unleash the hate from the left and make myself the target of network and cable news networks, nationwide,” he said.
“I learned that what was happening to me had a name. It was called being cancelled. As in annulled. As in revoked. As in made void.
“Cancelled is what’s happening to people around this country who refuse to be silenced by the far left. Many are being fired, humiliated or even threatened.”
Two locations for addresses on the second night of the convention were controversial.
By speaking at the White House, Mrs Trump was criticised for holding a political event there, which contravenes the Hatch Act.
And by beaming in from Israel, Mr Pompeo was slammed by Democrats for breaching protocol that a Secretary of State should not comment on domestic politics while outside the US.
‘POWER OF REDEMPTION’
It came as Mr Trump pardoned a bank robber who works to help prisoners reintegrate into society in the opening minutes of the Republican National Convention.
He said Jon Ponder, who appeared at the White House with his best friend Rich Beasley, the FBI agent who arrested him, had turned his life around since being jailed 15 years ago.
On his release from prison, Mr Ponder founded Hope For Prisoners in Las Vegas, a prisoner re-entry program for reformed criminals.
“Jon’s life is a beautiful testament to the power of redemption,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Ponder fought back tears as he was granted a full pardon by Mr Trump.
He said: “My hope for America is that formerly incarcerated people will be allowed to take advantage of the fact that we believe in second chances”.
“Not so long ago, my life was running from the police, fearing the police, and avoiding the police,” he said.
“I had allowed animosity to grow inside of me, making me believe that they were my enemy.
“But today, I’m filled with hope. I have been given a second chance. My transformation began in a prison cell. I gave my life to Jesus.”
MELANIA’S SPEECH
First Lady Melania Trump is set to give one of her longest and most significant public addresses today when she appears as headline speaker at the Republican National Convention.
Mrs Trump’s speech will be delivered from the revamped White House Rose Garden which she unveiled last week, and there is no chance of a repeat of the plagiarism scandal that erupted the last time she addressed a Republican Convention.
Her press secretary previewed the address on Tuesday local time, saying that the First Lady had personally overseen “every word” of the argument she will make for her husband’s re-election.
This wasn’t the case at the last RNC in 2016, when parts of speech she gave were found to have been lifted from a 2008 address by former First Lady Michelle Obama.
“It’s been very, very clear that over the last three-and-a-half years Mrs Trump has done nothing but learn and grow in this role and she’s been doing a fantastic job at that,” said Stephanie Grisham on MSNBC.
“We’ve been working really hard the last three weeks.
“I can tell you that every word in this speech is from her. It is very authentic and it’s going to come from the heart. So we’re really excited for people to hear from her.
“It will be one of her longer speeches that she has given and I think the American people will be really excited to hear some of the things that she’s going to say.”
The Trump campaign in 2016 was forced to apologise for a speechwriter accidentally copying sections of Mrs Obama’s speech after being told Mrs Trump wanted her own speech to be similar in tone.
Mrs Trump will speak after two other Trump family members, US President Donald Trump’s son Eric and daughter Tiffany, as well as conservative figures including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
TRUMP JR LAUNCHES ATTACK ON CHINA
Donald Trump Jr, oldest son of the president, launched a strident attack on China over COVID-19 and also of Joe Biden’s soft stance on the regime.
He said “courtesy of the Chinese Communist Party, the virus struck” in January and brought to an end 50-year-low unemployment rate and the “greatest prolonged economic expansion in American history”.
“The President quickly took action and shut down travel from China. Joe Biden and his Democrat allies called my father a racist and xenophobe for doing it,” he said.
“They put political correctness ahead of the safety and security of the American people.”
Trump Jr said: “Beijing Biden is so weak on China that the Intelligence Community recently assessed that the Chinese Communist Party favours” him.
“They know he’ll weaken us both economically and on the world stage,” he said.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, detailed a series of deals made by the Obama-Biden administration that showed “a record of weakness and failure”.
“The UN is not for the faint of heart. It’s a place where dictators-murderers-and-thieves denounce America … and then put their hands out and demand that we pay their bills,” she said.
“We did what Barack Obama and Joe Biden refused to do. We stood up for America … and we stood against our enemies.”
She cited tough North Korea sanctions, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem as proof of Mr Trump’s “record of strength and success”.
“Joe Biden is good for Iran and ISIS … great for Communist China,” she said.
“And he’s a godsend to everyone who wants America to apologise, abstain, and abandon our values.”
‘WE HAVE TO WIN’
It came as Mr Trump was been formally nominated for a second term at the Republican National Convention, which kicked off today in North Carolina.
Mr Trump took the stage in Charlotte to rousing applause, in stark contrast to the almost entirely virtual and often prerecorded convention held by Democrats last week.
It was a surprise appearance in which he accused his opponents of using the coronavirus pandemic, which has up-ended the race to the polls in November, to encourage what he describes as fraudulent mail-in and remote voting.
“They’re using COVID to steal the election,” Mr Trump said.
Taking the stage to cheers of “four more years” he thanked the gathered state delegates gathered and called them “incredible warriors”.
He then joked: “If you want to really drive them crazy, you say 12 more years.”.
“We have to win,” Mr Trump said.
“This is the most important election in the history of our country.”
Mr Trump appeared after Vice President Mike Pence, who officially accepted his nomination as running mate.
He said he travelled to Charlotte, which had been the original convention location before COVID forced it to be scaled back, because “I felt an obligation”.
“It’s been a place that’s been very good to me,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump will be the central figure at this year’s convention, which will be mainly based in Washington DC for the remainder of the week and be capped off by a speech on Thursday night (local time) when he formally accepts the nomination.
‘BODYGUARD OF CIVILISATION’
The first speaker, conservative student organiser Charlie Kirk, slammed protesters causing chaos across America and described Mr Trump as “the bodyguard of western civilisation”.
“Trump was elected to protect our families – our loved ones – from the vengeful mob that wishes to destroy our way of life, our neighbourhoods, schools, church, and values,” said Mr Kirk from Turning Point USA.
“All of this is under attack by a group of bitter, deceitful, vengeful, arrogant activists who wish to tear down this gift we have been given. We are locking up pastors, but releasing violent criminals from prison, we are kicking doctors off of social media, yet promoting Chinese state-funded Propaganda on major tech platforms.”
He said: “This election is the most critical since 1860, when a man named Lincoln was elected to preserve the union from disintegration. This election is not just the most important of our lifetime – it is most important since the preservation of the Republic in 1865.”
Former Dallas Cowboys NFL player Herschel Walker spoke about his friend Mr Trump and said: “It hurts my soul to hear the terrible names that people call Donald. The worst one is ‘racist.’”
“I take it as a personal insult that people would think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist,” said Mr Walker, who is a black man.
“People who think that don’t know what they are talking about. Growing up in the deep south, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump.
“Just because someone loves and respects the flag, our National Anthem, and our country doesn’t mean they don’t care about social justice.
“I care about all of those things, and so does Donald Trump. He shows how much he cares about social justice and the black community through his actions. And his actions speak louder than any stickers or slogans on a jersey.”
Later, Mr Trump was to appear in a taped address with six former hostages who have been released since 2016.
They were Michael White, a navy vet captured in Iran, Syrian prisoner Sam Goodwin, evangelical Pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been held in Syria.
Joshua and Tamara Holt were hostages in Venezuela before being freed under Mr Trump’s hostage release program, while Pastor Bryan Nerran was held in India.
The convention will also hear from the parents of Kayla Mueller, an aide worker who was tortured before being murdered by ISIS.
Trump’s political enemies sought to distract from the event with a series of attack ads, while a light show criticising his coronavirus response was planned to be displayed on the side of the Washington DC auditorium where speeches were given.
Among the ads was one from Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, who has pleaded guilty to fraud and is also writing a tell-all panning his former friend.
Mr Cohen is serving a three-year sentence after being convicted in 2018 of federal crimes including making hush money payments to two women, including porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed they had affairs with Mr Trump.
“Later this week, he’s going to stand up and blatantly lie to you,” he said of Mr Trump, saying it was “laughable” that he was talking up law and order.
“I’m here to tell you he can’t be trusted — and you shouldn’t believe a word he utters.”
“Virtually everyone who worked for his campaign has been convicted of a crime or is under indictment. Myself included,” he says in the ad.
“So when the President gets in front of the cameras this week, remember that he thinks we are all gullible, a bunch of fools.”
Over coming days the Trump 2020 campaign will try to use the convention to showcase conservative figures and paint an optimistic picture of what lies ahead for America.
Republicans say they will focus on the path ahead rather than their opponents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who they accuse of trying to keep the country shuttered and the economy flailing.
Law and order and race relations will be some of the main focus on Monday night (local time), with a mix of live speeches from a Washington auditorium and online appearances.
Among the speakers will be former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is widely considered a potential 2024 candidate, as well as Senator Tim Scott, the only African-American Republican senator, who will give the keynote speech.
Other speakers will include some of Mr Trump’s most ardent cable-TV boosters, including congressmen Matt Gaetz of Florida and Jim Jordan of Ohio, as well as Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Six Trump family members are set to address the convention this week, with Don Jr and his partner Kimberly Guilfoyle speaking on Monday (local time).
Lesser known speakers include figures who have made headlines and drawn huge online followings, such as St Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey.
The lawyers are facing felony charges for waving guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home.
Mr Trump goes into the convention having lost the support of his loyal 2016 campaign chief, Kellyanne Conway, who resigned over the weekend for family reasons.
Originally published as Republican National Convention: Donald Trump slams ‘destroyer’ Joe Biden in acceptance speech