MILWAUKEE   -  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reiterated his claim in his speech that Hamas’s October 7 onslaught would not have happened if he were president. He vowed to “end every single international crisis that the current administration has created, including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine — which would have never happened if I was president — and the war caused by the attack on Israel, which would have never happened if I was president.”

“Iran was broke. Iran had no money. Now Iran has $250 billion. They made it all over the last two and a half years,” he added, saying the Biden administration has provided Tehran sanctions relief.

“I told China and other countries, if you buy from Iran, we will not let you do any business in this country.”

He repeated his claim that Iran was on the verge of agreeing to negotiate a new deal to more strictly curb its nuclear program before Trump lost the 2020 election. “Iran was going to make a deal with us, and then we had that horrible, horrible result that we will never let happen again,” the former president said. “Now Iran is very close to having a nuclear weapon, which would have never happened.”

He warned that countries holding American hostages will pay “a very big price” if they are not released, as he accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday at the Republican National Convention.

“To the entire world, I tell you this: We want our hostages back, and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price,” Trump warned in his speech. Trump did not specify which hostages he was referring to. There are more than 60 Americans being held hostage or wrongly detained around the world, including eight Americans being held by Hamas in Gaza, who were among the 251 taken during the terror group’s October 7 massacre, when 1,200 people were murdered in southern Israel.

The Thursday speech, Trump’s first since the attempt on his life last weekend at a rally in Pennsylvania, was among the longest convention speeches in modern history at just under 93 minutes.

Trump repeated several false assertions, including the claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, that his opponent “inherited a world of peace” from him, and that crime rates were increasing, even though they are lower than when he left office.

In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin , he recounted the moment he was hit in the ear with a bullet at Saturday’s  rally where one attendee died and two others were injured. Trump said he felt safe because he felt he had “God on my side.” Many speakers throughout the 3-day convention expressed their gratitude that Trump. survived the assassination attempt

“I stand before you this evening with a message of confidence, strength, and hope,” Trump told a boisterous crowd of supporters. “Together, we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, colour, and creed,” he said as he voiced confidence in winning the November presidential election.