Trump latest: Running mate contender 'ruled out' - with reveal of Republican ticket expected tonight (2024)

Donald Trump has named Ohio senator JD Vance as his running mate for the presidential election.

This means that if Trump is elected this November, Mr Vance will become vice president.

The US Marines veteran once described himself as a "never Trumper" but has since become a reliable supporter, even attending court in New York to support Trump at his hush money trial.

Mr Vance is aligned with Trump's populist mindset and will likely be palatable to the MAGA base - perhaps even as a potential successor one day.

The roll call has just begun, with delegates from each state pledging their support for a Republican candidate.

Almost all of the 2,400 delegates are set to select Trump.

Until now, we've been hearing speakers and music rousing the party faithful at the convention. Now is the run-up to the official selection of the Republican presidential nominee.

Republicans are starting to fill out the venue for the national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The scene inside shows the kind of pomp and grandeur that's come to be expected from events like this in the lead-up to the presidential election.

Donald Trump will pick his running mate tonight and his own position as the Republican nominee will be made official.

The Republican National Convention (RNC) is set to begin within minutes, in the wake of a failed assassination attempt on the former president.

All eyes are on the convention to see whether Trump will use the opportunity to address the attack.

Protesters have gathered outside the convention in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Inside, delegates from each state gather to formally vote to nominate Trump and his potential vice president.

The director of the Secret Service has said she's confident in the plan to secure the building, after a man shot at Trump from a rooftop near a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

Kim Cheatle said the security plans for the event are "designed to be flexible".

We are expecting to see familiar Republican faces speak, like House speaker Mike Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy - who ran a failed bid to become the Republican nominee - and Trump's eldest sons, Donald Jr and Eric.

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the Republican National Convention.

The Coalition to March on the RNC, comprised largely of local groups, was protesting for access to abortion rights, for immigrant rights, and against the war in Gaza, among other issues.

Organisers said the rally was going ahead despite the attempt on Trump's life on Saturday.

"We're going to continue with the march as we planned," said Omar Flores, a coalition spokesman.

"The shooting has nothing to do with us."

Doug Burgum has been told he will not be Trump's running mate, sources have told Reuters.

A North Dakota governor, Mr Burgum hoped his small-town values would appeal to Republican voters enough to choose him as the presidential nominee. That didn't work - but it could have made him an appealing pick to join Trump on the ticket.

The 67-year-old former software company executive has stressed his humble origins and previously said the next US president should be "someone who's held jobs where you shower at the end of the day, not at the beginning".

North Dakota is as red as they come, so picking Mr Burgum wouldn't come with the advantage of moving the dial in a swing state.

Within the last hour, Reuters reported Marco Rubio has also been ruled out - but nothing has bee made official yet.

With all eyes on the Republicans, a reminder of the state of play for the Democrats.

Despite calls for him to step aside, Joe Biden is expected to receive the official presidential nomination from fellow Democrats - according to four sources cited by Reuters.

Democrats and Republicans typically use their national conventions to officially nominate their candidates, but Mr Biden will be nominated weeks before his party gathers in Chicago on 19 August.

This was a plan announced long before the president's shaky 27 June debate, with a virtual vote planned for late July.

Biden campaign officials said they expect Saturday's assassination attempt on Trump will reduce the pressure on him to step aside.

Mr Biden, 81, has repeatedly insisted he is not going anywhere and says he is best equipped to beat Trump.

Why is there an early vote?

The early nomination was scheduled to deal with an Ohio law that could have kept Mr Biden off ballots in the state if he weren't nominated by 7 August, before the convention.

Democrats are still moving forward with the plan even though Ohio's governor signed a bill in May to secure Mr Biden's spot on the state's ballot.

An online or virtual vote means no chance of a live convention floor battle in Chicago that could embarrass Mr Biden and throw the campaign into chaos.

In any case, there does not appear to be any well-defined push to rally delegates around any other candidate ahead of the virtual vote, Reuters reports.

How will the vote work?

Many of the details will be decided on 19 and 21 July, when the party's convention rules and credentials committee meet.

Any virtual process is likely to happen within days of those meetings, according to officials.

What if Joe Biden steps down after he is nominated?

If Mr Biden steps down after the official nomination, then the 435 members of theDemocratic National Committee would hold a special session to choose a new candidate.

The members are divided roughly equally between men and women as well as various constituency groups including LGBT+ representatives and racial minorities.

Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in new opinion polls in two important states.

Polling by the New York Times/Sienna College conducted between 9 and 11 July - before Mr Trump was shot at the weekend in Pennsylvania - had the following results.

Pennsylvania

• Trump - 48%
• Biden - 44%

Virginia

• Trump - 46%
• Biden - 44%

Pennsylvania is seen as key 'swing state' at the presidential election in November. These states will likely decide the outcome.

Virginia has voted Democrat since 2008 and the first time Barack Obama was elected.

The poll of 872 registered voters in Pennsylvania had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points, and the poll of 661 registered voters in Virgina had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

Marco Rubio has been told he will not be Trump's running mate, sources have told Reuters.

The Florida senator, who had been tipped as a frontrunner,ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 but dropped out after losing his state's primary to Trump, who relentlessly mocked him as "Little Marco".

Mr Rubio has drawn criticism from the MAGA movement in the past for his immigration reform legislation, even though he has since renounced it.

This leaves Ohio senator JD Vance and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum as the favourites.

The latest episode of the Sky News Daily podcast is out.

On today's Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by our US correspondent James Matthews to explore how realisticPresident Biden’s calls for unity are during thisheatedelection campaign.

Plus, Dr James Cooper, associate professor of history and American studies at York St John University,explains why political violence is nothingnew in the US.