Trump inspects stage ahead of addressing RNC

US President Donald Trump is due to accept his party's renomination from a massive White House South Lawn stage on Thursday night, breaking with tradition by using the executive mansion as a political backdrop and defying pandemic guidelines to address a tightly packed, largely maskless crowd.

Facing a fraught national moment caused by a confluence of crises, Trump is expected to paint an optimistic vision of America’s future, including an eventual triumph over the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 175,000 people, left millions unemployed and rewritten the rules of society.

But that brighter horizon could only be secured, Trump is expected to assert, if he defeats Joe Biden, against whom he is likely to unleash blistering attacks meant to erase the Democrat’s lead in the polls.