Former President Donald Trump has given one of his first interviews since the attempt on his life on Saturday night, saying he has completely rewritten his convention speech to focus on a message of "unity" instead of criticising Joe Biden.

"The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” he told the Washington Examiner.

“Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches,” he also said, adding that it would have been aimed mostly at the President Biden's policies.

“Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now. It is a chance to bring the country together. I was given that chance.”

Trump also said that the "reality" of what happened on Saturday "is just setting in," and described the moment he looked up at the crowd after realising he had been shot.

“The energy coming from the people there in that moment, they just stood there; it’s hard to describe what that felt like, but I knew the world was looking. I knew that history would judge this, and I knew I had to let them know we are OK,” he told the Examiner.

The former president touched down in Milwaukee this morning, where he'll attend the Repulican National Covention this week and be formally nominated as the party's candidate.

He's also expected to reveal who will be his running mate in the election.

In a rare address from the Oval Office Sunday evening, President Joe Biden called on Americans to cool the temperature around political debate.

"[It] must never be a battlefield and, God forbid, a killing field," he warned. "No matter how strong our convictions, we must never descend into violence."

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