Trump urges unity after assassination attempt as he accepts Republican nomination

Sombre and bandaged, Donald Trump has officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination.

He spoke at the Republican National Convention and talked about the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration.

The 78-year-old former president described standing onstage in Butler, Pennsylvania, with his head turned to look at a chart on display when he felt something hit his ear. He raised his hand to his head and saw immediately that it was covered in blood.

“If I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark,” Trump said. “And I would not be here tonight. We would not be together.”

Trump’s address was the longest convention speech in modern history at just under 93 minutes. It marked the climax and conclusion of the massive four-day Republican event which drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin.

Sensing political opportunity in the wake of his near-death experience, the often bombastic Republican leader embraced a new tone he hopes will help generate even more momentum in an election that appears to be shifting in his favour.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he sustained in the Saturday shooting. “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

While he spoke in a gentler tone than