RNC 2024 Day 1 updates: Bandaged and emotional, Trump makes RNC appearance

Chants of "we love Trump" could be heard as he entered the RNC.

ByMeredith Deliso, Tal Axelrod, Chris Boccia, and Alexandra Hutzler
Last Updated: July 15, 2024, 11:01 PM EDT

The first day of the Republican National Convention has wrapped up in Milwaukee -- marked with an appearance by former President Donald Trump just two days he was wounded in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday evening.

Despite the shooting, the gathering of more than 50,000 attendees, including an expected 2,400 Republican delegates, is slated to maintain its original programming as a time to bring the party together -- but now newly energized by Trump's amazing survival and raised-fist show of defiance.

One of the most anticipated moments of Trump's campaign happened Monday when Trump named 39-year-old Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing:
Jul 15, 2024, 4:24 PM EDT

McConnell booed as he awarded Kentucky’s delegates to Trump

When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Kentucky would award its delegates to the former president, the tone in the convention center changed from its celebratory mood.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell casts the vote for Kentucky on the first day of the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

McConnell was joined by his wife, Elaine Chao, Trump’s former transportation secretary who resigned in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021.

The reception to McConnell’s delegate announcement was in marked contrast to the cheers of Trump allies as the party introduced a new-look platform and nominated a man McConnell said had morally failed the nation and invited the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, is stepping down from his position this fall.

Jul 15, 2024, 4:18 PM EDT

'Fight, fight, fight!,' delegates chant

Chants of "fight" popped up during the roll call -- a nod to Trump, who could be seen mouthing "fight" and pumping his fist as he was taken off the stage following Saturday's assassination attempt.

Following Delaware's pledging of their votes to Trump, members of its delegation raised their fists in the air and chanted "fight, fight, fight!"

Wyoming delegates have done the same.

Idaho Republican Party chairwoman Dorothy Moon, while announcing delegates for Trump, led delegates in chanting "fight, fight, fight!"

-ABC News' Jacob Steinberg and Tommy Barone

Jul 15, 2024, 3:30 PM EDT

Trump clears threshold to lock in nomination

Trump has officially cleared the numerical threshold at which he has locked in the nomination, with a pause in the roll call for celebration.

Florida, his adoptive home state, put him over the edge as his son, Eric Trump, announced the delegates.

Eric Trump raises his fist after the Florida delegation cast their votes during the roll call during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention, in Milwaukee, July 15, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Tommy Barone

Jul 15, 2024, 3:37 PM EDT

Donald Trump Jr. encouraged Vance choice, calls him the 'American dream'

Donald Trump Jr. played a key role in his father picking Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.

Sources tell ABC News the former president's son "led a strong push" for him behind the scenes and that Trump made his decision in the last few hours.

Trump Jr. told ABC's Rachel Scott on the RNC convention floor he was "incredibly excited."

"J.D's become a really good friend … his story is an incredible one, the American dream."

Sen. J.D. Vance attends a campaign rally in Vandalia, OH, March 16, 2024.
Jeff Dean/AP/FILE

"I know the man, I know the character," Trump Jr. said of his friend, J.D. Vance.

-ABC's John Santucci and Rachel Scott