Trump will bring the TV antics this week – but he is in need of a plan

During re-election campaigns, presidents should look to the future – indeed it has won the last three White House incumbents re-election, writes Chris Stevenson

Ratings have always been key for ‘The Donald’ (AP)

Our readers on both sides of the Atlantic (and the rest of the world) certainly responded to our coverage of the Democratic Party’s national convention last week – and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris accepting their places on the ticket for November’s presidential election.

Now we get to do it all again, with Donald Trump and Mike Pence formally accepting their nominations for re-election. You can expect some changes from last week though. President Trump has said that he plans to appear during every day of the convention programme, rather than just the last day (as tradition normally dictates), with reports that producers linked to his version of The Apprentice are helping put the Republican National Convention (RNC) together.

The GOP spent much of the Democrats’ convention berating what they saw as a lack of TV ratings (although more than 122 million views in total were said to have counted for the event across digital platforms, broadcast and cable news). Ratings have always been key to “The Donald” so the next few days should be no different – he will want to beat his rival party when it comes to the stats.