Brandon Livesay
Reporting from the convention

With the Republican convention on a short break, let's take a moment to check in on the latest updates into the investigation of the attempted assassination on Donald Trump.

My colleague Bernd Debusmann Jr is in Bethel Park - the town where the attacker identified by the FBI lived.

Bernd has been following the criminal investigation closely, and he was at the rally in Butler when Trump was attacked.

Keep following this page for the latest from Bernd.

Brandon Drenon
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

For many, this will be their first time seeing Usha Vance, the wife of Donald Trump's vice-presidential nominee, JD Vance.

The two met as students at Yale Law School in the 2010s, according to the New York Times, before getting married in 2014.

Usha - the child of Indian immigrants - was born in California and raised in the suburbs of San Diego.

She's currently a corporate litigator at a San Francisco law firm and previously has clerked for conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr.

Vance frequently praises his wife for her support in his career and considered her his “Yale spirit guide” when the two were classmates.

In an interview on Fox News last month, Usha said: "I believe in JD, and I really love him, and so we’ll just sort of see what happens with our life.”

Together, Vance and Usha have three children: two sons, Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter named Mirabel.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from the convention

Greg Simpson is a delegate from Milford Ohio, just a few dozen miles from Vance’s childhood home.

He had an inkling that Vance would be picked as Trump's VP nominee.

“Of the three on the shortlist, I don’t think you could have done better,” he says.

Democrats will make light of Vance’s anti-abortion views and previous opposition to Donald Trump, but Simpson is unbothered.

“If Trump is comfortable with him, then I am,” he says. “He’s flexible on some things, and that’s a good thing.”

Mike Wendling
Reporting from the convention

The Republican National Convention is taking a short break - but don't worry, there's lots for us to bring you.

I've been chatting to Ohio delegate Amanda Suffecool, who says there's "going to be so much energy around" fellow Ohioan JD Vance being named as the vice-presidential nominee.

Suffecool, chair of her county's Republican Party in the north-east part of the state, says of Vance:

Vance was one of the first Republicans to blame Saturday's assassination attempt on Trump on Democratic rhetoric - which Suffecool says is justified and that she's seen people celebrating the attack online.

Calls for unity are fine, she adds, "but I don’t think it’s really achievable".

Jude Sheerin
Reporting from the convention

The Ohio delegation of Vance’s home state, in particular, is deliriously happy - according to the state’s Lt Gov Jon Husted.

“Are we ready to nominate a vice-president?," he asked the crowd just moments ago.

“He is the living embodiment of the American dream,” says Lt Gov Husted.

“He came from humble beginnings and he never forgot where he came from.”

We're currently hearing from officials at the Republican convention.

They tell the crowd JD Vance is officially the running mate of Donald Trump.

Vance has a huge grin and holds his arms in the air.

And a reminder, you can click watch live at the top of this page to watch along.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from the convention

A large cheer comes up as Vance enters along with his wife to the strains of a country music song.

Vance pauses to chat with delegates from Ohio who seem in a triumphant mood.

Image source, Reuters

Republican vice-president candidate JD Vance and his wife Usha have arrived at the party's national convention in Milwaukee.

He's taking to the stage now to loud cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd.

Stay with us as we bring you more on his first appearance as Trump's running mate.

Image source, Reuters

Mike Wendling
Reporting from the convention

Sporadic chants of “JD” are breaking out here on the floor of the convention, and delegates are crowding forward to try and get a glimpse of Vance's arrival.

Some people here have handwritten "Vance" underneath their Trump posters, making their own campaign signs after the recent announcement of Vance as Trump's running mate.

We are not sure when he will arrive here, but it could be soon.

Stick with us.

Jude Sheerin
Reporting from the convention

I've been speaking to some of the attendees here at the Republican convention.

Dr Elizabeth Hinds-Ferrick, 60, is a naturalised citizen, originally from Guyana, South America, but now of Boston, Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts delegate says: "It’s exhilarating, this is my first convention. It’s exciting to be part of American history, especially after what happened to Trump on Saturday."

Hinds-Ferrick “strongly” believes the Republicans will win in November and is glad Trump picked JD Vance because Vance is “wise” and “very knowledgeable”.

She believes the US has gone “too far left" - adding "we need to come back to the centre".

Anthony Zurcher
Reporting from the convention

The roll call of states relaying their primary results is over here in the convention hall.

Donald Trump is now officially the nominee of the Republican Party. On Thursday he will take the stage to accept the nomination.

At the moment, the band is blasting old rock hits from one corner of the stage, and convention delegates are milling around the floor.

Later tonight there will be speeches, videos and more music. The formal part of Day One is over, and the week-long party is just starting.

Anthony Zurcher
Reporting from the convention

It’s not hard to pick the Texas delegation out of the crowd on the floor of the Republican National Convention arena.

They’re the ones in the red western shirts and the big white Stetson hats.

They’re also one of the largest delegations to this convention, with prime seating near the front of the stage. This is because of the state’s population and heavy Republican tilt.

Regional garb is a bit of a tradition at political conventions, and the Texas Republicans take considerable pride in wearing their cowboy hats to the quadrennial gatherings.

It’s just a taste of the Texas pride that’s in store four years from now, when the Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place in Houston.

Anthony Zurcher
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Reuters

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may have made peace with Donald Trump, but the delegates to the Republican National Convention here in Wisconsin have not forgiven him.

When the Kentucky senator appeared on the floor of the convention arena, his face shown on the large television screens, he was roundly booed by the crowd.

As Senate majority leader, McConnell regularly sparred with then-President Trump. And after the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, he had said the former president was “morally responsible for provoking the events of that day”.

Yet McConnell announced in March that he would support the former president’s re-election bid - the last Republican leader in Congress to fall in line.

McConnell, who served as the Republican leader in the Senate since 2015, has proven to be an effective legislative tactician with a long record of accomplishment in the chamber, including helping to push through Trump’s three nominees to the US Supreme Court.

That didn’t seem to concern the Milwaukee convention crowd, though. Their response to McConnell is yet another sign that the delegates here in Wisconsin - and the Republican Party itself- have fully moved on from the party’s old guard.

Donald Trump is now officially the Republican party's candidate for the presidential election.

He has received a majority of delegate nominations at the Republican National Convention.

Trump's son Eric, who was representing Florida, put Trump over the threshold.

Back inside the Fiserv Forum, Republican National Convention (RNC) attendees have been reacting to the news that JD Vance will be Donald Trump's running mate.

As the former president announced his decision on social media, people at the convention in Milwaukee erupted into chants of "JD".

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Born James David Bowman in Middletown, Ohio in 1984, Vance comes from a white, working class family mostly of Scottish-Irish decent. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the once-booming Appalachian coal country that is now one of the country's poorest areas.

Vance joined the Marines for four years and served in Iraq before going to Ohio State University, where he received degrees in political science and philosophy.

From there, he attended Yale Law School, and then wrote a successful memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, that some reviewers described as offering a window into a conservative white working class that is often overlooked.

In 2017, Vance moved back to Ohio from California, where he had been working in biotech, and set up his own venture capital operation with support from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a sometime libertarian and rare Republican in Silicon Valley.

In early 2021, Thiel gave $10m (£8m) to a committee seeking to recruit Vance as a Senate candidate.

Once Vance joined the race, he abruptly changed his tone regarding Trump, apologising for previously calling him "reprehensible" and even repeating the president's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

With an endorsement from Trump, he clinched the Senate seat and has since become an influential voice in Washington.

You can read more about Vance here.

JD Vance: The young Trump defender with a blue-collar backgroundpublished at 20:10 British Summer Time 15 July

20:10 BST 15 July

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump’s pick of Senator JD Vance suggests the former president knows that this election will be won and lost in a handful of industrial midwest battleground states - Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

A native of Ohio, Vance gained popular attention after the release of his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which tells of his blue-collar upbringing and how it affected his politics and worldview. With his background, Vance could be well positioned to connect with and turn out the kind of white, working class voters who narrowly delivered those states to Trump in 2016.

Vance had criticised Trump in the run-up to that race eight years ago - something Democrats are sure to point out - but he has since become an outspoken defender of the former president - particularly on television news networks. His recent loyalty, and effectiveness, certainly factored into Trump’s decision.

At only 39, Vance will provide a youthful counterpoint to the elderly candidates at the top of both presidential tickets. Trump’s choice positions the Ohioan to be at the forefront of a new generation of Maga Republicans. And if the former president returns to the Oval Office next year, Vance will instantly join the conversation for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination.

Donald Trump has announced on his Truth Social platform, external that he has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his vice-presidential nominee.

"After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio," Trump wrote.

Gareth Evans
Reporting from Milwaukee

On the highway into Milwaukee, which many state delegates will be driving along today, we passed more than a dozen huge billboards that underscore just how much politics is taking centre stage here this week.

One praises the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v Wade abortion ruling, one attacks Joe Biden’s economic record – using the term ‘Bidenflation’ – and there are Democratic billboards too, which label Donald Trump an extremist.

The former president also features in one which we’ve seen multiple times.

“I love Milwaukee,” it reads, with a picture of him pointing towards the city.

Jude Sheerin
Reporting from Milwaukee

At Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee, the Coalition to March on the RNC is holding a rally before it heads to the convention centre.

Protesters expressed cynicism not just about Donald Trump and Republicans, but about President Joe Biden and the Democrats. They held signs saying "we can no longer afford the rich". Another sign said: "No racist Trump, No genocide Joe". The image of Biden on the banner had bloody vampire teeth superimposed, while Trump’s had a pig nose.

Gia Davila, 23, who lives in Tampa, Florida, is attending with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. She describes herself as Marxist-Leninist.

Asked why she is here, she says: "We’re tired as people who live in the United States, we’re tired of seeing the reality of the Republican attacks on the people from reproductive rights to racist attacks on everyday Americans."

Like many people we spoke to at the rally, she doesn't support Biden either. "Moderate doesn’t even begin to describe him," she says. "He’s consistently supported a war on the people of Gaza. He’s done nothing for the people of the US."

Davila says she, like many she knows among her age group, socialist or otherwise, will not vote in November.

Asked how she feels about Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump, she says: "I mean, I don’t know, I don’t really know what to say about it."