Republicans Focus on Convention Security after Trump Shooting

 A supporter of Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waits by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, Wisconsin, on July 14, 2024, to try and get a glimpse of his plane landing. The Republican National Convention will take place from July 15th to the 18th. (AFP)
A supporter of Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waits by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, Wisconsin, on July 14, 2024, to try and get a glimpse of his plane landing. The Republican National Convention will take place from July 15th to the 18th. (AFP)
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Republicans Focus on Convention Security after Trump Shooting

 A supporter of Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waits by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, Wisconsin, on July 14, 2024, to try and get a glimpse of his plane landing. The Republican National Convention will take place from July 15th to the 18th. (AFP)
A supporter of Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waits by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, Wisconsin, on July 14, 2024, to try and get a glimpse of his plane landing. The Republican National Convention will take place from July 15th to the 18th. (AFP)

US law enforcement agencies are working to ensure security at the Republican Party's convention in Milwaukee this week, following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a campaign rally.

Trump escaped with minor injuries and will accept the formal Republican presidential nomination at the four-day convention, expected to draw more than 50,000 people.

"We feel very comfortable that we're working with the Secret Service. We're working with 40 different law enforcement agencies in terms of what that security is going to look like," Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley said in an interview on Fox.

Trump, 78, had just begun to speak in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening when a bullet pierced his right ear, streaking his face with blood.

A 50-year-old volunteer firefighter died shielding his family to protect them from the bullets. Two other rally attendees were critically wounded. Law enforcement agents killed the suspected gunman, a 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, about an hour away from the rally.

Whatley urged Republicans to use this moment as an opportunity for unity, moving beyond partisan divisions.

"There is no place in politics in any way, shape or form for this kind of violence, for these types of actions. It's a horrific act," Whatley said. "Everybody in America needs to stop. They need to pause, they need to reflect on what is actually important for us in this political process going forward."

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who is a key ally for Trump's rival President Joe Biden, said the violence against Trump should motivate both parties to shore up security, with Democrats due to hold their convention in Chicago in August.

"We need to be more concerned and more diligent than ever in ensuring that our two conventions and the rest of this presidential campaign comes off safely and securely," he told NBC.

The Republican convention in Milwaukee this week is set to take place in the arena that is home to the NBA Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.



Defense Chief Says Ukraine Will Find Battlefield Solutions No Matter Who Wins US Election

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Defense Chief Says Ukraine Will Find Battlefield Solutions No Matter Who Wins US Election

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrives for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers dinner hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the annual NATO summit at the Fort McNair on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

Ukraine will find a way to battle Russia's invading forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and imperils vital US support for its defense, Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday.

In carefully framed comments to an audience of US policymakers and journalists, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reflected the diplomatic and military difficulty facing Ukraine as Trump and running mate JD Vance gain momentum in the US presidential race.

Vance, an Ohio senator, has battled in Congress to block US military and financial aid to Ukraine as it fights Russian forces and cross-border attacks, while Trump has said he will bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November.

Trump, a Republican, has not said how he would do that. Analysts say that could include withdrawal of US aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to a ceasefire on Russian terms, including surrendering Ukrainian territory to Russia.

“We believe in US leadership, and we believe America wants its partners and allies to be strong as well,” Umerov said, speaking remotely to an audience of government officials and others at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

“At this stage, we will focus on the battlefield,” Umerov said. “Whatever the outcome” of the US elections, “we will find solutions.”

Umerov, much like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Washington last week, stopped short of saying whether Ukraine would attempt to keep fighting or would agree to a ceasefire deal that ceded territory to Russia if the US were to withdraw its support.

While other members of the military alliance of European and North American countries also help provide arms, money and other aid to Ukraine, US support has been the most invaluable since Russia launched its war in early 2022.

For now, Umerov insisted that Ukraine — which has broadened its mobilization efforts to bring in more troops than the 4 million Umerov said were now registered — would keep fighting to regain territory already lost to the Russians.

It was “within our goals” to take back the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russians early in their offensive, he said.

The defense minister also pushed back against President Joe Biden on one point, although not by name. While Biden has been the most important single backer of Ukraine’s defense, he has resisted growing pressure to roll back tough restrictions placed on Ukraine’s use of US weapons against military targets in Russia. Biden suggested at the NATO summit that Ukraine might use the weapons to hit Moscow.

Umerov said Ukraine couldn’t stop Russian strikes on its cities and infrastructure unless it could hit the airbases and other military sites in Russia from which the strikes come.

“We want to say it loudly: We are focusing on military targets, so that they are not able to hit the civilians” in Ukraine, he said.