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Donald Trump<\/strong> got a hero\u2019s welcome from the loyalists who had gathered to once again nominate him for president Monday. All evening long, speakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/strong>, Glenn Youngkin<\/strong>, Tim Scott<\/strong>, Katie Britt, Kristi Noem<\/strong>, and other MAGA stars had sung his praises to the rafters\u2014and inveighed against his opponent, President Joe Biden<\/strong>. But most of the Trump supporters here at the Republican National Convention seemed to be waiting for one thing: the former president himself.<\/p>\n When the jumbotron finally cut to him, nearly four hours into the evening session at the Fiserv Forum, the arena erupted. He wore a bandage on his ear, where he\u2019d be injured two days earlier in a shooting. He pumped his fist and waved to the screaming audience as he took the stage, as Lee Greenwood sang, \u201cGod Bless The USA.\u201d He mouthed \u201cthank you\u201d to the crowd and greeted his sons, Eric<\/strong> and Don Jr.,<\/strong> and others in the VIP section, like right-wing media star Tucker Carlson<\/strong> and Representative Byron Donalds<\/strong>. Then, he took a seat and listened to the remaining speakers, including the model and rapper Amber Rose,<\/strong> express their support for him.<\/p>\n It was his first major public appearance since Trump survived an assassination attempt<\/a> at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday, and came as he named<\/a> Ohio Senator J.D. Vance<\/strong>\u2014a critic turned staunch ally\u2014his running mate against Biden and Kamala Harris<\/strong>. Vance arrived on the convention floor to \u201cAmerica First\u201d by Merle Haggard, which played twice as he embraced members of his state delegation. Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted<\/strong>, in nominating Vance, said Trump\u2019s running mate must have an \u201cAmerica First attitude in his heart\u201d\u2014something former Vice President Mike Pence<\/strong>, who certified the 2020 election in defiance of his boss\u2019s orders three and a half years ago, apparently did not have<\/a>. \u201cJ.D. is such a man,\u201d Husted said, as the crowd chanted Vance\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The fanfare for Vance\u2014who is scheduled to speak Wednesday\u2014was enthusiastic, and yet it paled in comparison to the applause Trump got. The former president is due to give his formal acceptance speech on Thursday evening, which he says he has rewritten<\/a> following the shooting. He vowed to show up Monday as planned because he \u201ccannot allow a \u2018shooter,\u2019 or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is here to show his courage,\u201d Greenwood said between verses. \u201cYou will not take him out!\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Trump was always going to get such a rhapsodic reaction. Outside the Fiserv Forum, sweating in a scrum of people watching demonstrators go by, I talked to a member of the Iowa delegation, who predicted that the crowd\u2019s post-shooting enthusiasm for Trump would rival the \u201crah-rah\u201d spirit he said he saw in American servicemembers after 9\/11. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll be able to shut these people up for ten, fifteen minutes\u201d when Trump takes the stage, he said, as a crowd of about 1,000 protesters marched by chanting, \u201cFuck Donald Trump! Fuck Donald Trump!\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump rally shooting\u2014which left one dead and three others, including the former president, injured\u2014cast the convention in a layer of tension<\/a>. But inside the Milwaukee Bucks arena, the unease gave way to a mood of celebration\u2014a sense, among those gathered in Trump cowboy hats and flag-sportcoats so tight the stars seem about to burst off the lapels, that their return to power is imminent. \u201cFight, fight, fight!\u201d the faithful cheered as delegates officially threw their support behind Trump, referring to his rallying cry as he left the Pennsylvania campaign stage bloodied Saturday.<\/p>\n The convention, Republican National Committee Chair Michael<\/strong> Whatley<\/strong> told attendees, will be \u201cthe biggest and best convention in the history of the Republican Party.\u201d The crowd went wild for a video montage of Trump dancing, set to the YMCA. \u201cWe are here to party for America!\u201d the country singer Chris Janson<\/strong> yelled, as he launched into another number.<\/p>\n Not everyone got a warm welcome. When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell<\/strong>\u2014the architect of the right-wing Supreme Court\u2014spoke as part of the roll-call for Trump\u2019s nomination, he was loudly booed by the crowd. But in general, the celebrants seemed willing to put aside the divides that had roiled their party<\/a> as recently as a couple months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeaker, speaker, can I get a picture?\u201d a woman asked as a short, bespectacled, buttoned-up man walked past her in the concourse.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the speaker,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOh! You look just like him!\u201d The man did look more than a little like Mike Johnson<\/strong>. But the actual speaker was on the convention floor, formally announcing Trump as the GOP nominee\u2014for the third straight cycle. Yes, it\u2019s Trump\u2019s party still\u2014and, here in Milwaukee, it\u2019s raging.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n