Amid security concerns, GOP Convention to kick off today

Cleveland, July 18: The Republican Convention will begin on Monday (July 18) night here with a speech by Melania Trump, the wife of the party's nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump and a former model, GOP officials said on Sunday (July 17).

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The latter may also be present at the programme, they said.

Paul Manafort, one of Trump's top campaign aide, though said that the question on whether Trump would be present during his wife's speech would be dealt on Monday itself, the USA Today reported. The former, however, added that the GOP has now stood firmly behind Trump and the convention would be a "solid" one. The Republicans were sharply polarised over the nomination of Trump, who eclipsed all his rivals during the primaries that started in February and ended last month, to emerge the presumptive candidate for the November 8 general election. [Over 100 women pose nude against Trump ahead of GOP Convention]

Convention to be held amid security concerns

Trump and his new running mate Mike Pence did not attend the campaign trail on Sunday even as the officials prepared for the big occasion. They also assured that the venue city will be safe during the convention, allaying the fears that have engulfed the United States of late in the wake of several instances of violence.

On Sunday, three police officers were killed while many were injured in a shooting in Baton Rouge in Louisiana, making it the second such incident within a week since the killing of five policemen in Dallas on July 7. And both these incidents happened after the mass killings in a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12.

The GOP convention schedule, however, kept on changing till the last minutes. According to the USA Today report, Trump wanted non-traditional speakers to address the convention and a number of speeches were being rewritten, marking a departure from the routine exercise.

The convention will continue till July 21.

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