CLEVELAND – Donald Trump lauded the 2,000-plus Republican delegation on Thursday for applauding his promise to protect gay Americans.

"I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said," the billionaire said in his speech to accept the GOP presidential nomination.

Speaking about the June terror attack in Orlando, Fla., in which a lone shooter killed nearly 50 Americans at a gay nightclub, Trump said the "terrorist targeted our LGBTQ community."

"As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology," he vowed, attracting several seconds of thunderous applause.

Shortly after the Orlando shooting, Trump encouraged Americans to ask themselves whether he or Hillary Clinton is a "better friend of the LGBT community."

"She can't claim to be supportive of these communities while trying to increase the number of people coming in who want to oppress them," he told voters in North Carolina in his first rally after the terror attack.

In April, Log Cabin Republicans president Gary Angelo told the New York Times that Trump would be "the most gay-friendly Republican nominee for president ever."