Trump , having been formally nominated as the Republican presidential nominee on the second night of the convention , spoke on the fourth and final night of the convention . Trump 's speech was leaked hours in advance by Correct the Record , a liberal-leaning Super PAC , though Trump had already given copies of his speech to the network press pool . Trump 's daughter , Ivanka Trump , introduced Trump in a speech immediately before his own speech . " Here Comes the Sun " was used as the entrance music for Ivanka Trump . The George Harrison estate complained about the use of this song , which his family said was " offensive and against the wishes of the George Harrison estate . " Trump spoke for 75 minutes , making his speech the longest since at least the 1972 Republican National Convention and one of the longest acceptance speeches ever in major-party convention history . In his speech , Trump stated that America faces a " crisis " due to " attacks on our police " and " terrorism in our cities , " and emphasized an important theme in his campaign : law and order . In evaluating the speech , Glenn Thrush of '' Politico '' noted the influence of Richard Nixon , Spiro Agnew , Ronald Reagan , and Rudy Giuliani , all of whom sounded similar themes earlier in American history in attempts to win over the " Silent Majority " . Trump also promised to limit American participation in global crises and trade deals . When Trump turned to the subject of illegal immigration , many in the audience began shouting " Build the wall , build the wall , " referring to a signature promise of Trump 's campaign to build a wall on the Mexico – United States border . Trump also repeatedly attacked President Barack Obama and the Democratic presumptive nominee , Hillary Clinton , arguing that the country and world had become less safe during their time in office . However , Trump attempted to reach out to supporters of defeated Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders , as well as down-and-out urbanites . In his speech , Trump also became the first Republican nominee to mention the LGBT community in a GOP nomination address , saying , " As your president , I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology . " Philip Rucker and David Fahrenthold of the '' Washington Post '' found Trump 's speech to be " relentlessly gloomy , " and observed that Trump painted himself as an agent of change , while he cast Clinton as a defender of the status quo . Trump 's speech was variously dubbed the " Mourning in America " speech and the " Evening in America " speech in reference to Ronald Reagan 's more optimistic " Morning in America " campaign ad . Niall Stanage of '' The Hill '' argued that Trump 's speech brought stability to a turbulent convention and showed Trump at his " most comfortable and energized . " A '' Politico '' poll found largely positive reactions among " GOP political insiders " while Democrats argued that Trump 's " dark " speech would prove damaging . '' The New York Post '' released a cover story the next day by Michael Goodwin praising Trump 's speech , declaring it " the speech of his life , " and also saying that the speech " could signal the start of an American revival . " Ratings figures released by the major networks showed that approximately 32 million viewers watched Trump 's speech , slightly ahead of the number that watched Mitt Romney 's 2012 speech
1972 Republican National Convention
1972 Republican National Convention
2016 Republican National Convention