Donald Trump still headline act for Republicans, despite charges

June 11: Former US President Donald Trump appeared defiant at two Republican Party conventions on Saturday, a day after he was charged with mishandling classified documents.

Trump - who is running to be the Republican candidate for president in 2024 - claimed that he was being pursued in federal court because of his re-election hopes.

But at the North Carolina Republican Party convention, he didn't look like a man under severe legal stress.

Hundreds of people stood up to welcome their former president as he walked onto the stage, happily soaking in the adulation. He was the main event, after a three-course meal.

There was salad to start, steak for the main and ice cream with strawberries for dessert - washed down with jugs of coke.

It was just a day after an indictment was unsealed revealing federal charges against Trump, accusing him of mishandling classified documents including nuclear secrets.

But Trump - who denies wrongdoing - was characteristically combative. He suggested nothing will stop him on his quest for the presidency. Not even, reportedly, jail.

And in the vast conference room, they didn't want him to stop.

They laughed at his jokes, offered regular applause and welcomed bold declarations, for example, that he is the only candidate who can prevent World War Three.

This was, after all, a Republican Party convention dinner with guests who had paid to see him speak.

Earlier, former vice-President Mike Pence received a warm reception but it was nothing like the intense buzz that surrounded his ex-boss.

What's more, the one-term vice-president got the lunch slot while Trump got dinner. He was the big Saturday night ticket.

Earlier in the day, amongst the merchandise and campaign stands, I came across Cheryal Korfmann and Charli Thyne.

Charli proudly stripped off her jacket to reveal a Trump-branded T-shirt. "I'm Trump all the way," she said.

(BBC)