The credentialed press awaited Donald Trump’s “official” arrival in Cleveland by helicopter on a field by the Great Lakes Science Center, where he greeted his running mate Mike Pence.
The photo op was constructed so that Trump’s plane would first make a pass, but many press members missed the shot because the sound of the plane was drowned out by Trump’s playlist–The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and Jerry Goldsmith’s theme music from the movie Air Force One.
Trump then switched to a helicopter, which made two passes across the city before touching down.
Members of the press started arriving as early as 7am and then waited in line until 12:30pm when the doors opened. They then crammed into a small riser and waited for another two hours in blazing summer heat.
Trump made a brief statement acknowledging Pence and family members. In the background was the city of Cleveland.
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Reporters then returned inside Quicken Loans Arena for the evening’s events.
Nina Berman is a photographer and an associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism