US President Donald Trump has accepted the Republican Party nomination for re-election before a large crowd at the White House and against a national backdrop of explosive racial tensions and the coronavirus pandemic.
The former celebrity real estate developer has declared himself all that stands between Americans and the "chaos" he says his Democratic rival Joe Biden will bring if he wins on 3 November.
“Despite all of our greatness as a nation, everything we have achieved is now in danger,” 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."
Mr Trump spoke from the White House's South Lawn, which he transformed into a flashy event centre for the final night of the Republican convention.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on the South Lawn of the White House. Source: AAP
Trampling over long-running presidential custom to separate the executive mansion from political campaigning, Mr Trump had some 1,500 white chairs laid out in front of the stage bedecked with rows of US flags and two giant video screens.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters, he trumpeted his record on the economy, his stance on China and hard-line approach to immigration.
The President warned rival candidate Mr Biden would be a “destroyer of America’s jobs” if elected.
“Joe Biden is not a saviour of America's soul…If given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness,” he said.
Law and order
Mr Trump's bid for reelection is already taking place in the kind of turmoil the country hasn't seen for decades, a fact rubbed in by a growing crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters around the White House as night fell over the capital.
Days of demonstrations and rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, have transformed the small town into a national arena for America's painful tensions over racial justice, police violence, and gun rights.
When a teenage vigilante, reportedly a Trump fan, allegedly killed two people and seriously wounded a third at a protest Tuesday night, the perfect storm was complete.
Struggling in opinion polls after what almost two thirds of Americans say is his unsatisfactory handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the President has latched on to what he calls the "law and order" strategy as a possible route to victory on 3 November.
Democrats assert that police forces across the country are plagued by institutional racism.
Mr Trump is leading Republican pushback, banking on the idea that Americans will be angrier at scenes of rioting than at police abuses.
"If Biden is elected, along with the Democrats who are unwilling to speak out against this anarchy, then the crime wave will intensify and spread from cities and towns to suburbs and beyond," Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and current personal lawyer to Mr Trump, said in his warm-up speech.
"When President Trump is re-elected the damage will stop," he said.
In addition to soaring racial tensions, the United States is still struggling to master the coronavirus outbreak or get schools and businesses back fully open.
But Mr Trump was expected to declare victory again in the fight against what he calls the "China virus".
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on South Lawn of the White House. Source: AAP
At the South Lawn party, there was no effort to enforce social distancing and many people did not wear masks.
Although Mr Trump can depend on a fiercely loyal right-wing base, his re-election will likely depend on support from a relatively small number of independent voters in the crucial swing states.
Mr Biden's team has accused Mr Trump of being derelict on the coronavirus, which has killed more than 180,000 Americans so far, with Mr Biden going further on race.
"He views this as a political benefit to him," Mr Biden said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday.
"He is rooting for more violence, not less. He is pouring gasoline on the fire.
In what was billed as a "pre-buttal" to Mr Trump's speech, Democratic vice presidential pick Kamala Harris also alleged that Trump has not done his presidential duty.
"It's his obligation to protect us. And yet he has failed. Miserably," she said.
Additional reporting: Naveen Razik.
