RNC 2024: JD Vance gives first major address as GOP VP pick on day three

MILWAUKEE - Foreign policy will be the top issue on Wednesday as the Republican National Convention enters its third day in Milwaukee, one that will end with an address by running mate JD Vance.

The theme, "Make America Strong Once Again," will highlight former president Donald Trump's foreign policy accomplishments and agenda.

Whoever wins the White House in November will have to contend with a myriad of foreign issues, including the Russia-Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas wars.

Here's what we know so far (estimated times are in Eastern Standard Time):

11:00 p.m. 

Ohio Sen. and Republican candidate for Vice President JD Vance gave a touching nod to his mother, Beverly Aikins during his remarks at the Republican National Convention Wednesday.

"It's about single moms like mine, who struggle with money and addiction but never gave up," Vance said as his mother sat watching in former President Donald Trump's Friends and Family box for the speech. "I am proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober. I love you, mom."

Vance stepped aside and acknowledged is mother while the crowd belted out a chant of "JD's Mom! JD's Mom!"

Before running for Senate, Vance was best-known as the author of the bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," which details the Ohio senator's rural upbringing and his family history struggles with poverty and substance abuse.

10:40 p.m. 

Usha Vance, the wife of GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance, introduces her husband in a speech to the RNC on Wednesday night.

"I met J.D. in law school when he was fresh out of Ohio State which he attended with the support of the GI Bill," Usha Vance says. "We were friends first because, I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with J.D.? He was then, as now, the most interesting person I knew -- a working class guy who had overcome childhood traumas that I could barely fathom to end up at Yale Law School. A tough marine who had served in Iraq, but whose idea of a good time was playing with puppies and watching the movie Babe."

Usha Vance describes her husband as the "most determined person I knew with one overriding ambition to become a husband and a father and to build the kind of tight knit family that he had longed for as a child."

10:10 p.m. 

Donald Trump Jr. reflects on his father's attempted assassination at his Pennsylvania rally over the weekend before introducing the Trump campaign's newly-selected VP, JD Vance, on night three of the RNC in Milwaukee, WI.

"And in that moment, my father didn't just show his character he showed America's character," Trump Jr. says, recounting Saturday's events. "When he stood up, with blood on his face, and the flag in the back, the world saw a spirit that could never be broken."

Trump Jr. also defends his father against the mainstream media, stating, "We won't ever forget the lies from left-wing politicians from their allies in the media."

"You fully understand the extent they have gone to divide this great nation," he says. "They lied about Russia collusion. They lied about Hunter's laptop. They lied about Joe Biden's fitness for office."

Before his remarks, Donald Trump Jr. invited his daughter Kai on stage. 

"He calls me during the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going and tells me all about his but then I have to remind him that I'm in school and I'll have to call him back later," Trump's granddaughter told a raucous crowd in Milwaukee.

9:29 p.m. 

Family members of the 13 U.S. service members who lost their lives during the final days of the U.S. war in Afghanistan speak at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday.

Fox News' Emma Colton reports the emotional scene from the crowd, with most of the audience remaining on their feet as the Gold Star families make their remarks.

During the remarks, the names of each service member who died are read to the audience, with those in attendance shouting the names back in return.

8:40 p.m.

Kellyanne Conway is reminding RNC attendees how many women served at top levels in Trump’s White House.

The former senior presidential adviser said Tuesday that she was one of five women, along with others including former press secretary-turned-Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in top jobs during Trump’s administration.

Conway noted that they had 19 children in total. Party officials and strategists have noted that Trump has struggled in the past two elections—and again in 2024—to attract suburban, college-educated women.

In 2016, Conway became the first woman to head up a Republican presidential campaign successfully.

Her comments at the 2020 RNC served as a farewell of sorts, as she had announced she’d be leaving the administration.

8:10 p.m.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took the stage.

"I can tell you America needs a president that will secure our border," says Abbott, governor of the state with the largest section of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Abbott criticized the Biden administration for objecting to his administration’s effort to secure more of its section of the border, "to take back our land and wire it shut."

Abbott’s remarks prompted thousands in Fiserv Forum to chant, "Send them back, send them back."

7:35 p.m.

Peter Navarro, former director of the U.S. Office of Trade and Manufacturing, spoke at the RNC on Wednesday, just hours after being released from prison. 

Navarro went into his own lengthy explanation as to why he was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress during his time on the RNC stage and even brought out his fiancé to display some PDA to a cheering crowd. 

In his first interview since his release, Navarro told The Associated Press he was just one example of what many on the right say is the Biden administration’s use of the judiciary to punish its political enemies.

"I’m a small part of the bigger issue," Navarro said, referring to the oft-repeated claim by conservatives that, during President Joe Biden’s administration, the justice system has been used to hobble former President Donald Trump and those close to him. "If we don’t control the government, the government will control us," Navarro said.

Navarro, refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of the Republican president’s supporters, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

4:50 p.m.

A North American Aerospace Defense Command F-35 aircraft responded on Wednesday, July 17 to a temporary flight restriction violation southwest of Milwaukee.

A news release said at around 3:30 p.m., radar data picked up a track of interest that was not in communication with Air Traffic Control inside the restricted airspace. A NORAD F-35 aircraft located the general aviation aircraft in question and safely escorted them out of the area.

RELATED: RNC 2024: NORAD F-35 intercepts plane southwest of Milwaukee

During the event, the F-35 aircraft flew at 4,400 feet – and may have been visible from the ground.

Where does Trump stand on various foreign issues?

Russia-Ukraine war and Ukraine aid

Despite not laying out a plan, Trump has repeatedly said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he’s elected president again. However, Russia’s United Nations ambassador says he can’t.

RELATED: RNC 2024: Crime and immigration takes focus on Tuesday

At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: "They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours." 

Trump said that would happen after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And has continued to repeat the claim on the campaign trail.

Trump also called for the end of foreign aid "WITHOUT ‘STRINGS’ ATTACHED," arguing that the U.S. should dramatically curtail the way it provides money.

"FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, ARE YOU LISTENING U.S. SENATE(?), NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS DONE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIVEAWAY," Trump wrote on his social media network in all-caps letters.

Israel-Hamas war

Back in April, Trump offered a tough message to Israel over its war against Hamas, urging the country to: "Get it over with."

RELATED: JD Vance will be Donald Trump's running mate in 2024

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump said that Israel is "absolutely losing the PR war" and called for a swift resolution to the bloodshed.

"Get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people. And that’s a very simple statement," Trump said. "They have to get it done. Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to -- you have to get back to normalcy and peace."

The GOP nominee, who has criticized President Joe Biden for being insufficiently supportive of Israel, also appeared to question the tactics of the Israeli military as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount. 

Since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Israel’s military has battered the territory, killing more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and creating a humanitarian catastrophe.

RELATED: Melania Trump says 'Let us reunite. Now.' after husband’s assassination attempt

Trump has long labeled himself the most pro-Israel president in the nation’s history and often notes his decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

NATO

Trump again said that if he returns to the White House, he would not defend NATO members that don’t meet defense spending targets.

"Look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect. OK?" he said at a campaign rally in South Carolina.

As of 2022, NATO reported that seven of what are now 31 NATO member countries were meeting that obligation — up from three in 2014.

Trump has often tried to take credit for that increase, and bragged that, as a result of his threats, "hundreds of billions of dollars came into NATO"— even though countries do not pay NATO directly.

Vance to address RNC Wednesday

Trump energized the crowd Monday night in his first public appearance since Saturday's assassination attempt. That day, he chose U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio to be his running mate as he looks to return to the White House. 

Vance will introduce himself to a national audience Wednesday as he addresses the RNC.

The Ohio senator’s headlining address will be his first speech as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. He's a relative political unknown who rapidly morphed in recent years from a severe critic of Trump to an aggressive defender.

RELATED: Biden tests positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms, will self isolate

Outside the RNC

Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators converged on Monday on downtown Milwaukee to protest around the Republican National Convention, saying the assassination attempt on Trump won't affect their long-standing plans to rally outside the site.

A wide range of organizations and activists gathered in a downtown park outside the Fiserv Forum's security perimeter to listen to speakers ahead of a street march coordinated by The Coalition to March on the RNC. The coalition, composed largely of local groups, supports abortion and immigrant rights and is pressing to end the war in Gaza.

On Tuesday, FOX6 News learned from two independent sources that a police officer from Columbus, Ohio, shot a person near 17th and Vliet in Milwaukee. This location is a little more than a mile from the Republican National Convention security perimeter.

The Associated Press and FOX6 News contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.