Republicans are gathering in Milwaukee to nominate Donald Trump again. Here's what to expect

For all the usual stagecraft, the Republican National Convention that opens Monday is different from Donald Trump's previous nominating affairs.

In 2016 and 2020, Trump was the underdog heading into fall and faced criticism from within his own party. This year, he will accept the Republican nomination with his party in lockstep behind him and Democrats in turmoil over President Joe Biden's viability.

There will be the usual convention tasks throughout the four days. Delegates, almost 2,400 of them, must approve a platform and formally designate the presidential ticket: Trump and his yet-to-be-named running mate. They’ll hear from both national candidates and a slew of others rallying support for Trump and taking aim at Democrats.

The GOP expects a triumphant moment.

“The political environment is not only great for Donald Trump, but it’s really great for Republicans running for Senate, governor, House seats, all the way down,” said Henry Barbour, an influential Republican National Committee member who has sometimes criticized Trump in the past.

Here are some questions going into the convention.

Trump has buried his opponents and taken over the party. Voters get fundraising mail with “Trump National Committee” stamped above the RNC’s Capitol Hill address. Trump’s closest primary rival, Nikki Haley, will not see the convention stage. Instead, delegates will hear from, among others, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ended his presidential campaign after the Iowa caucuses and immediately endorsed Trump.

“I don’t think there’s any comparison to his previous campaigns,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally.

Most importantly, Trump is on offense against Biden and confident enough that his campaign promised in a convention preview that “President Donald J. Trump will usher in a new golden age for America.”

Ever the showman, Trump has strung out his choice of running mate. The most-mentioned possibilities are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Trump has mused that he'd love to withhold his pick until the convention begins — but he admits that idea frustrates his aides who want to preview the rollout. All three men, along with other contenders Trump has considered, are expected to address delegates at some point.

Conventions are mostly about firing up core supporters. But they draw large television and online audiences that include the broader electorate. Trump’s campaign has outlined daily messaging aimed at both audiences, with themes that riff on Trump’s red-hat motto: “Make America Great Again.”

Monday’s theme is economics: “Make America Wealthy Once Again.” Trump has outlined an agenda of sweeping tariffs and ramped-up production of oil and gas, even though it already hit a record under Biden. He argues that his plans to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally will bring down inflation, which has fallen from higher levels earlier in Biden's presidency.

Tuesday, it’s immigration and crime: “Make America Safe Once Again.” Trump and Republicans believe the border debate is among their strongest issues. They have arranged speeches for the family members of slain people in which immigrants in the U.S. illegally face criminal charges, as part of Trump's broader attempts to blame crime on border policies.

Wednesday is national security day: “Make America Strong Once Again.” Delegates and the viewing audience can expect to hear arguments that Biden is a “weak” and “failed” commander in chief and head of state. This is the day, typically, that vice presidential nominees address the convention.

Thursday will culminate with Trump himself: “Make America Great Once Again.”

The takeaway for most observers, regardless of all the careful planning and choreography, will be what Trump himself says in his acceptance address. In 2016 in Cleveland, Trump offered a dark indictment of American life and insisted, “I alone can fix it.” The populist, nationalistic pitch enraptured his backers but did not necessarily help him expand his appeal.

Republicans across the party want Trump to take advantage of Biden’s struggles by explaining his ideas for a second presidency. That means sidestepping his most incendiary, racist rhetoric. And, yes, it would mean not repeating his lies that the 2020 election was fraudulent or spending time complaining about the criminal prosecutions against him.

“He needs to avoid the politics of division,” said Barbour.

Of course, that would also mean Trump taking a decidedly un-Trump approach.

If there is any notable dissent on the floor, it may come over the platform provision stating that abortion policy should be left to state governments. That’s what Trump wants two years after the conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority he helped cement overturned the precedent establishing a federal right to abortion services.

Anti-abortion activists — and Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence — want Republicans to call for federal restrictions on abortion. There’s no question that Trump controls the votes to ratify the proposed platform. A public fight would play into Democrats’ contention that the GOP wants to effectively ban abortion access nationwide — part of their wider argument that a second Trump administration would be extreme on many policy matters.

Trump family members are expected to speak at some point. Donald Trump Jr. has been a top surrogate and forceful defender for his father in recent months. But daughter Ivanka Trump has been much quieter since leaving her role as White House adviser during Trump's term. Former first lady Melania Trump is expected to be in Milwaukee but it was not clear as of early Friday whether she will speak. She has been notably absent from the 2024 campaign, a stark contrast to first lady Jill Biden's role for her husband.

Protest groups won’t be permitted inside the security zone established around the convention arena by the Secret Service. But they’ll get as close as they can and attract at least some media attention.

Principles First, which describes itself as a nationwide grassroots movement of pro-democracy, anti-Trump conservatives, is holding a rally Wednesday. Speakers include former Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele.

The Democratic National Committee is holding events in Milwaukee as well, promising daily news conferences, counterprogramming and voter outreach in the Democratic-dominated city. Democrats intend to highlight Biden’s accomplishments on the economy and juxtapose the president’s advocacy for democracy and international alliances with Trump’s criticism of NATO, praise of authoritarian leaders and quips about being a dictator on “day one.”

Democratic-aligned groups, including United We Dream Action, the Service Employees International Union and America’s Voice, are going even further, with bilingual mobile billboards around the RNC site urging voters to reject “Trump’s fascist agenda.”

People walk at the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Preparations are made to the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

People walk past the Fiserv Forum ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance is preparing to dissolve the vestiges of a charitable effort he launched in Ohio after publication of his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” his campaign said.

Vance formed two like-named nonprofits starting in 2016 to address problems in Ohio and other “Rust Belt” states. They were primarily supposed to focus on boosting job opportunities, improving mental health treatment and combatting the opioid crisis. The original organization folded within five years and Vance put the other on hold when he ran successfully for the Senate in 2022.

He faced criticism during the race over how little the groups accomplished. Despite Vance's stated intentions to identify and produce national solutions to those problems, the nonprofits’ only notable achievement was paying to send an addiction specialist to southern Ohio for a year who had questioned the well-documented role of prescription painkillers in the national opioid crisis. Vance has acknowledged that the groups' efforts fell far short of his aspirations.

One of the groups — a foundation — filed paperwork in April reinstating the corporate status it had allowed to expire in 2022.

Trump campaign spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk told The Associated Press that that filing was required because the foundation still had money left in its bank account and did not signal that Vance intended to resume the foundation’s efforts. She said he plans to close out its accounts and distribute the remaining balance to causes benefiting Appalachia.

Records the group filed with the state and obtained by the AP through a public records request show it reported about $11,000 remaining in the foundation’s account.

Vance's first nonprofit, Our Ohio Renewal, was formed not long after “Hillbilly Elegy” was published in 2016. It was registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Such groups are able to endorse candidates, though this one never did. Its contributions were not tax-deductible. Vance said his goal was to raise $500,000 a year to fund its work.

A year later, he created the Our Ohio Renewal Foundation. As a 501(c)(3) charitable group, it operates with more restrictions but also allows donors to receive tax deductions for donations.

The groups failed to catch on, in part because a key organizer was diagnosed with cancer. Our Ohio Renewal reported raising $221,000 in 2018 — $80,000 of which was Vance’s own money. It raised less than $50,000 a year thereafter, before being shut down in 2021, records show.

Meanwhile, the foundation appears to have raised and spent only about $69,000 from 2017 to 2023 — although figures in its annual reports don't all add up. Neither Jai Chabria, a Vance political adviser who formerly worked as a consultant to the foundation, nor was the campaign able to explain the discrepancies, citing the passage of time and changes in personnel.

During Vance’s run for the Senate, the AP reported that the residency funded by Our Ohio Renewal for Dr. Sally Satel in Ironton, Ohio, was clouded by ties between her, the American Enterprise Institute, where she was a resident scholar, and OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma. Satel cited Purdue-funded studies in some of her writings while being paid by the institute, which was at the time receiving funding from the drugmaker, according to reports in ProPublica.

Vance's Senate campaign said the candidate — whose family's experience with addiction figured heavily in his book and helped inspire his charity work — was unfamiliar with Satel’s reliance on Purdue research in her work when she was selected for the 2018 residency. But he said he remained proud of her work treating patients in one of Ohio’s hardest hit areas.

Satel said at the time that she came to her conclusions independently, and AEI said it maintains a firewall between its scholars and its donors.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Byron Center, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)