By all accounts, this year's Republican National Convention was supposed to be boring, a ceremonial opportunity for Donald Trump to accept his third consecutive nomination for president.
But a stunning news cycle for the former president, complete with a failed assassination attempt on Saturday and the dismissal of his most straight-forward criminal case on Monday, injected an unprecedented feeling of triumph into the GOP conversation.
The RNC — which runs from Monday, July 15, to Thursday, July 18 — brought nearly 2,500 GOP delegates and numerous Republican leaders to Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum to attend panel sessions and hear speeches about the party's 2024 platform. The location of the event was chosen carefully, as Wisconsin is expected to play a key role in deciding the next president.
PEOPLE is following along with the major RNC updates between now and Thursday night, so keep checking back for the latest.
Republicans Solidify Their 2024 Ticket
The Republican National Convention kicked off on Monday, July 15, with a flurry of headlines from Trump world: his fe -
deral classified documents case got dismissed, his security was heightened in the wake of Saturday's attempted assassination, and he became one of only a handful of people in U.S. history to earn his third major party presidential nomination after a delegate roll call vote.
By far the biggest takeaway from day one, though, was the announcement that first-term Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance would join Trump on the Republican White House ticket, ending a months-long running mate audition that saw several of Trump's closest allies flex their loyalty on the campaign trail.
Vance — who has veered into far-right politics since launching his first political campaign a few years back — beat out a handful of other rumored finalists, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
After Vance was introduced on the convention floor alongside his wife, Usha, on Monday afternoon, he made a joint appearance with Trump — the former president's first public sighting since his ear was grazed during the shooting at his campaign rally.
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