Donald Trump officially accepts Republican nomination for president

CLEVELAND (KABC) -- Concluding an improbable primary campaign that saw him sweep aside the party's established candidates, Donald J. Trump officially accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday night and declared he would "lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace."

Trump, speaking at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, pledged to improve public safety and reduce violence in the nation's streets.

"Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order."

His 75-minute speech was interrupted at times by an enthusiastic audience chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A" and "build the wall, build the wall."

C-SPAN noted that Trump's speech was the longest by a nominee going back to at least 1972, if not further. The second-longest was Bill Clinton's re-election nomination in 1996, at 64:44 minutes.

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Turning to his Democratic opponent, Trump argued that the world was safer before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state.

"Libya was cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence," Trump said.

Now, he said, ISIS has grown in power, "Libya is in ruins" and Egypt is dominated by a radical Muslim brotherhood.

"This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness," Trump said to big roars from the convention crowd.

Clinton's campaign was live-tweeting as Trump spoke, criticizing his economic plans and asking supporters to donate $1 every time Trump told a lie.

Earlier in the day, Clinton's campaign launched an anti-Trump webpage called Trump Yourself.

The Bernie Sanders campaign was also live-tweeting during the speech.

At one point, his speech was also interrupted by a Code Pink protester, the group's co-founder Medea Benjamin, who displayed a banner declaring "Build bridges not walls."

Trump waited patiently while security officers removed the shouting woman.

"How great are our police, and how great is Cleveland?" he declared as the woman was escorted from the convention.

Trump took several other aggressive swipes at Clinton, and sought to flip her campaign slogan on its head.

"My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: 'I'm With Her.' I choose to recite a different pledge."

"My pledge reads: I'm with you, the American people."

"I am your voice."

He concluded with an expansion of his campaign's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

"To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and all of our towns, I make this promise: We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again."

The choice of music played at the convention and its association with Trump also angered another musician, for the second time this week.

Before introducing her father, Ivanka Trump walked out on stage to The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun," written by George Harrison.

Harrison's estate tweeted: "The unauthorized use of #HereComestheSun at the #RNCinCLE is offensive & against the wishes of the George Harrison estate."

The estate added: "If it had been Beware of Darkness, then we MAY have approved it! #TrumpYourself"

That statement followed the use of Queen's "We Are the Champions" for Trump's convention entrance earlier in the week. The British band similarly expressed disapproval of the use of its music.

After Trump concluded his speech, The Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want" played over the convention's speakers. In May of this year, the band issued a cease-and-desist order to Trump asking him to stop using their music.

Trump was introduced at the convention by his daughter Ivanka, who sought to portray a softer, more compassionate side to her father and highlighted beliefs and policies that at times seemed to come from the Democratic playbook.

Ivanka Trump said that women executives were in the majority at Trump's company and that women are paid equally for their work there.

She also said he hired people of different background and ethnicities and genders for his construction worksites.

"He is color-blind and gender-neutral," she said. "He hires the best person for the job, period."

She also offered stories of seeing Trump read stories in the newspaper about people who were struggling with difficulties in their lives. She said he would cut the stories out and track the people down and look for ways to help them, such as finding them a job.

"My father not only has the strength and ability necessary to be the next president, but also the kindness and compassion that will enable him to be the leader that this country needs," she said.

The acceptance speech followed an unusually controversial and divided convention.

It included rowdy protests outside the convention halls and a rebellion inside the arena by delegates who tried to support a different candidate from the one they were pledged to nominate.

Additional controversy followed the speech by Melania Trump, the candidate's wife, when it was revealed that portions of her address were identical to parts of a 2008 Democratic convention speech by Michelle Obama.