Donald Trump is presumptive nominee no more.

The Republican Party officially nominated the real estate mogul during a relatively smooth roll call vote on Tuesday, quashing the hopes of the Never Trump movement that had threatened to mount a last-minute challenge.


Instead, Trump sailed to the 1,237-delegate threshold, with his home state of New York putting him over the top. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., announced the 89 delegates that formally clinched the nomination for his dad, as his siblings proudly looked on.

“It is my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight with 89 delegates,” Trump Jr. said from the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. “Congratulations, Dad. We love you.”

Trump himself tweeted that it was a “great honor” and vowed not to let the country down.

“Such a great honor to be the Republican Nominee for President of the United States,” he said. “I will work hard and never let you down!”

Trump’s official nomination is a new apex in the political outsider’s campaign to shake up Washington. His White House bid began last June with a widely panned, rambling speech in which he blasted Mexicans as “rapists” and pledged to build a wall on the southern border that Mexico will pay for.

Trump’s campaign has seemingly endured strife almost daily since its inception. GOP leaders were slow to back his campaign and have continued to condemn his controversial rhetoric and actions. But his message has resonated with an overwhelming number of voters who have propelled him atop the Republican Party.

Speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash moments after nominating his father, Trump Jr. called it a “historic” moment.

“I mean it’s incredible. I mean, one of the most surreal moments of my life other than the birth of my children,” he said. “I've watched him work so hard on this and speak to so many real people who were just feeling left out and left in the dark here in New York and all over the country, and to be able to do that is just, you know, it’s historic. It’s awesome.”

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was also formally nominated on Tuesday night as the Republican Party's choice for vice president.

The high-stakes roll call vote for Trump proceeded at a relatively fast clip, despite some public opposition to the billionaire reality TV star on the floor for the second consecutive day.

The announcement of votes for Trump at times drew mixed reactions. While some delegates chanted and cheered for Trump enthusiastically, other delegates shouted in protest.

Donald Trump's kids announce his nomination On Tuesday, Donald Trump was officially nominated by the Republican Party.

Alaska had attempted to cast 12 votes for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz based on the results of its caucuses, but the convention secretary ruled that all 28 votes must go to Trump. “No! I will not accept that!” one Alaska delegate said. “They cannot be allowed to do that. I am fed up with that.”

The Washington, D.C., delegation was also overruled. The secretary granted Trump all of the territory’s 19 votes, prompting boos from the delegation and calls for “objection” and to “poll the delegation.”

Two Cruz delegates from Illinois shouted “liar” as the D.C. delegation was overruled.

But as the voting kicked off, Trump found it exhilarating.

“The ROLL CALL is beginning at the Republican National Convention,” he tweeted. “Very exciting!”

At the conclusion of voting, the Alaska chairman argued that his state’s votes were misrecorded.

“We cast 12 votes for Sen. Ted Cruz, 11 votes for Donald Trump and five votes for Marco Rubio,” he said, calling for a poll of the state’s delegation. While the move didn’t change the end result, it delayed the prime-time speaking schedule.

No speakers had delivered remarks since the roll call vote until Sharon Day, co-chair of the RNC, took the stage around 8:25 p.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, chair of the convention who reluctantly came around to supporting Trump as the Republican Party’s front-runner, commenced a roll call vote for the Republican Party’s presidential nominee at around 6:08 p.m. Tuesday. By a little past 7 p.m., Trump had officially claimed the nomination.

In a last-ditch effort Tuesday, some frustrated delegates tried to rebuff convention rules and vote their conscience anyway. The move was intended to challenge the governor or party chair’s announcement of its state or territory’s votes, forcing them to poll their state or territory’s members. But the convention secretary ignored the dissent from delegates who weren’t recognized to speak for the delegation.

The anti-Trump effort also fell short one day earlier after party leaders upended a faction of delegates’ move to hold a roll call vote to free delegates to vote their conscience instead of binding them to support a candidate based on the results of their states’ primaries and caucuses. The failed attempt and ensuing chaos, which played out on national TV, further illustrated the disarray inside a fractured party at what was supposed to be its unifying convention.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the first senator in Congress to back Trump, formally nominated Trump on Tuesday.

“Mr. Speaker, it’s my distinct honor and great pleasure to nominate Donald J. Trump for the office of president of the United States of America,” Sessions said at the conclusion of his remarks.

Sessions’ nomination was seconded by New York Rep. Chris Collins and South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster — two early supporters of the billionaire’s campaign.

Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., announced the 89 delegates from New York that the real estate mogul needed to clinch the nomination nearly an hour after voting began. | Getty

Ryan emphasized before the roll call kicked off that delegates are required to “vote in accordance with their obligations” under convention and party rules, as well as state law.

“Lastly, I wish to remind our delegates, our alternates and guests that maintaining order during the roll call is extremely important,” Ryan said, likely speaking directly to the anti-Trump crowd.

The floundering so-called Never Trump faction was hopeful that Trump would enter the convention short of a majority of pledged delegates. Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, at one point urged voters to support any candidate who had the best chance of beating the billionaire businessman in a given state.

As the 17-person field dwindled down to three — Trump, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — conservatives staked their hopes on the Texas firebrand’s operation, whose superior ground game kept alive aspirations that he could deny Trump the nomination on multiple ballots.

But all anti-Trump efforts failed. The former reality TV star was declared the “presumptive nominee” by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on May 3 following his decisive victory in Indiana, which ultimately vanquished Cruz and Kasich from the GOP primary. And he entered the convention with 1,543 delegates, according to POLITICO’s delegate tracker.

Trump is expected to formally accept the nomination during his prime-time speech on Thursday.

Katie Glueck, Kyle Cheney and Nick Gass contributed to this report.