Trump's appointment of JD Vance shows that he is not trying to unite the US

IF JD Vance is sworn in as Donald Trump’s vice-president on January 20, 2025, he will, at 40 years and five months, be the youngest occupant of that office since Richard Nixon in 1953, and the third youngest in US history.

- Matthew d’Ancona

Only three days ago, Trump — officially nominated yesterday at the party’s national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — narrowly escaped assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Long convinced he is the victim of systematic persecution, he now presents himself as the indispensable strongman who cheated death — chosen by God to fulfil his destiny.

His choice of the senator from Ohio as his running mate has much to tell us about his state of mind and plans in the wake of that terrible attack, in which, let us not forget, Corey Comperatore, a retired fire chief, was killed while trying to protect his family, and two other men were critically wounded.