Tensions are high in Milwaukee ahead of the Republican National Convention, where Donald Trump is due to speak just days after he nearly lost his life in an assassination attempt.

Mr Trump has said he has updated the speech he describes as a ‘humdinger’ - which he will deliver when he is officially nominated as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.

"Thousands” of police officers have arrived in Milwaukee as security ramps up ahead of the convention.

Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie is in the Wisconsin city for the convention and he has been talking to locals about how they feel about Mr Trump’s arrival.

One man from Milwaukee told Josh that the convention is “sickening" him.

“It's sickening me because I love everybody, we’re all human beings,” he said on Newstalk Breakfast. “And all I see is vitriolic hatred.”

He said he doesn't want to see Mr Trump killed - but he is a "monster" who "needs to go".

Meanwhile, one local woman told Josh that people are “frustrated” with the increased security around the city following the assassination attempt. 

A win for Trump?

Presenter Ciara Kelly said the assassination attempt ahead of the convention could become the key to Mr Trump winning the upcoming presidential election. 

“That iconic photo of the American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner fluttering behind him, the blood across his face and his fist in the air,” she said. 

“That may well be what wins the man the election – so these things are counterproductive in the first place.” 

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Shane Coleman said he agrees with US President Joe Biden’s call for people to “take some of the heat out of American politics”.

“Calling Trump evil isn’t helpful,” he said. 

“I think Donald Trump is the worst thing to happen to democratic politics in the Western world in many, many years. 

“What he did [in] January three years ago is unforgivable, but this idea that he’s a monster and you’ve heard people use these phrases that he’s evil – it's not helpful.” 

Shane Coleman in the Newstalk Studio

Ciara agreed, adding politicians themselves often “demonise” each other, particularly online. 

“We have allowed the rhetoric to spread that if someone disagrees with you, then they’re an awful person,” she said. 

“That simply isn’t true – we know that in the real world.” 

Taking politics 'to the streets'

Shane said the increased calls to “take politics to the streets”  are "really dangerous" - both in the US, Ireland and other countries facing more political polarisation.

“Once you’re taking politics to the streets, you take it out of the democratic chambers,” he said. 

“That includes the people who protested when Donald Trump was democratically elected [in 2016] and they protested in New York – that's wrong.” 

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally following an assassination attempt. Image: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Speaking from the convention, Josh said there is a “strange feeling” in the city. 

“These conventions are usually a jovial, lively occasion – hats, scarves and had bangs, Trump flags,” he said. 

“But when the sun rises here in Milwaukee, one can only assume the atmosphere will be quite tense.” 

Guns are not allowed in the ‘hard’ zone of the convention where the main events are taking place. 

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