JD Vance will give his first major address as Donald Trump’s running mate on Wednesday and Republicans will turn their focus to foreign policy during the third day of the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Vance will be preceded by Donald Trump Jr and introduced by his wife, Usha. The theme for Wednesday – “Make America Strong Once Again” – comes amid internal divisions on how to handle the war in Ukraine. Earlier this year, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, only narrowly passed a bill to provide additional funding for Ukraine over the loud objection of some Republicans.Other speakers included the former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, who was released from prison on Wednesday after serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum – who was a top contender to be Trump’s running mate – and Texas governor Greg Abbott.To a crowd of attendees – some holding signs reading “Mass deportation now!” – Abbott declared: “Biden has welcomed into our country rapists, murderers, even terrorists.”He then led the crowd in a chant of: “Send them back!”Abbott noted his repeated act of sending buses of immigrants to sanctuary cities and vowed the buses “will continue to roll until we finally secure our border”.Burgum later chastised the president with a different label: “At home, Biden is acting like a dictator.”Representative Ronny Jackson and the former House speaker Newt Gingrich are also expected to address the convention.South Carolina representative Nancy Mace kicked off Wednesday night’s speakers by telling the crowd: “I’m Nancy ‘Don’t Call Me Pelosi’ Mace.”Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman, took to the stage on Wednesday with a brief but charged-up speech that took aim at Democrats, and in particular, at Kamala Harris.“Appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like appointing Bernie Madoff to oversee your retirement plan,” said Gaetz, to jeers and applause.With some Democrats urging Joe Biden to step down amid concerns over the president’s health and cognition following a devastating debate in early July, the possibility of Harris at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 presidential ticket seemed top of mind for Republican convention speakers.Gaetz also told attendees of Vance’s vice presidential nomination: “JD looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.” His speech otherwise focused on Trump’s economic agenda, and railing on voter ID laws.Ohio’s East Palestine mayor Trent Conaway lauded Trump for his visit to the site of the freight train derailment, paying the former president compliments for how he treated residents.“His presence was genuine,” Conaway said.The day will also offer an opportunity for Republicans to attack Joe Biden over his handling of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the war between Israel and Gaza.Some Republicans have already started attacking Biden’s foreign policy.“When Donald Trump was president, Putin did nothing. No invasions. No wars. That was no accident. Putin didn’t attack Ukraine because he knew Donald Trump was tough. A strong president doesn’t start wars. A strong president prevents wars,” Nikki Haley, said on Tuesday.The focus on foreign policy comes after Republicans addressed crime and safety on Tuesday and on the economy on Monday.“Each one of these has a theme, like last night was ‘bend the knee and grovel’ apparently,” Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said at a Democratic press conference in Milwaukee. “And today is ‘celebrate Russia day’, I guess,” he added.Walz also discussed the Democratic timeline for formally nominating Biden with a roll call vote amid pressure for him to drop out. “We need to get these things done. We need to get the roll call done,” Walz said. “But it won’t happen before the first of August.”The four-day event has marked a full-on coronation for Trump, who has made his dramatic return to the campaign trail after surviving an assassination attempt over the weekend.It has also underscored the firm hold he has on the party.Haley and the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination, both unequivocally backed Trump in speeches from the convention floor on Tuesday. “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. Take it from me. I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree,” Haley said in her remarks.Speakers on Tuesday highlighted crimes they blamed on the Biden administration. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, for example, highlighted Americans who had been killed by undocumented people. Madeline Brame, one of several ordinary Americans picked to speak during the convention, blamed Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg for not prosecuting her son’s killer.Other speakers on Tuesday included the Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Marco Rubio, Elise Stefanik, Ben Carson, Rick Scott and Tom Cotton.Joan E Greve contributed reporting