Trump says he will call for unity during Republican convention speech

In the wake of the assassination attempt on him, former president Donald Trump has said he scrapped plans to talk about how bad the current US administration is in favour of a speech at the Republican National Convention calling for unity.

“I had all prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible administration,” he told the tabloid New York Post in an interview published late Sunday. “But I threw it away.”

Trump, 78, said he now wants to speak at the Republican Party convention in favour of overcoming the political divide in the country.

"I want to try to unite our country," Trump said ahead of the four-day convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he will be officially nominated on Thursday as the Republican presidential nominee.

"But I don't know if that's possible. People are very divided," he said.

An assassination attempt on Saturday left Trump with an injured ear.