Donald Trump has vowed as president to confront and repel the multiple threats facing the US, as he accepted the Republican nomination.
“The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end,” he said in Cleveland.
Painting a bleak picture of the state of the nation, he said his presidency would usher in a new era putting America and ordinary people first. His speech comes a day after party discord was laid bare.
Senator Ted Cruz failed to back his bitter rival and was booed off the stage.
Other senior Republicans like both former presidents named Bush stayed away in protest at the coronation of a nominee they so vehemently oppose.
But Mr Trump, a New York businessman who was written off when he launched his campaign a year ago, hoped his speech would allay these party tensions and rally the party.
Speaking for well over an hour, he painted a picture of a country falling apart and on the decline.
“We will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order,” he said.
Addressing the “forgotten Americans” who work hard but no longer have a a voice, he said: “I am your voice.”
He attacked his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton at every opportunity, blaming the former secretary of state for “death, destruction and weakness”.
In a speech he described as a plan to “put America first”, Mr Trump said:
- He would build “a great border wall” to stop illegal immigration, gangs and drugs
- Mrs Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness.
- Decades of immigration have produced lower wages for African Americans and Latinos
- President Obama has failed US inner cities on education, jobs and crime
- Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records are “roaming free” to threaten citizens
- trade deals that have “destroyed our middle class” will come to an end
- “Americanism, not globalism” would be the tenet of foreign policy
He was introduced in glowing terms by his daughter Ivanka, who said her father valued women workers and he would make quality childcare affordable.
Not long into his speech, he deflected crowd chants of “Lock her up!” by saying he would beat Hillary Clinton in November.
In a departure from Republican orthodoxy, Mr Trump took up the theme of acceptance of LGBT rights, framing it in terms of American values.
“I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence … of the hateful foreign ideology,” he said to some cheers from the crowd.
“As a Republican it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said,” he added.
In a key moment earlier in the night, Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel told the convention he was proud to be gay.
