Trump to campaign in key state after rambling acceptance speech

Donald Trump is to campaign today in the crucial swing state of Michigan, in his first election rally with his newly picked running mate and since he survived an assassination attempt that has transformed the race for the White House.

- Ed Pilkington

The Republican candidate will return to the rust belt state, one of three seen as critical to the chances of his rival Joe Biden wining the election, two days after closing his party's convention, in which he made one of the longest nomination acceptance speeches in US history.

The address, which began with an uncharacteristic message and tone of unity, was met with adulation among his Make America Great Again (Maga) crowd inside the convention hall in Milwaukee, displaying the extent to which Trump has captured the Republican party.

But as he continued speaking, Democrats voiced some relief, noting that the former president had squarely revealed his true stripes, which were a world away from the contemplative and caring national unifier that Republican strategists had promised would be on stage.

"He had the whole world in his hands. If he had stayed with that unity message, he could have caused problems, but he could not help himself," Van Jones, a former special adviser to Barack Obama, said on CNN.

For the first 15 minutes Trump was on point, and had millions of primetime viewers where he wanted them. His right ear still bandaged, he described the attempt to kill him that he so narrowly dodged last Saturday in powerful yet subdued terms.