Flanked by family members and business associates, Donald Trump aims to turn this week’s Republican national convention into a reintroduction to the American people, according to a preview of what promises to be an event dominated by his highly unconventional personality.

“This is a Trump convention,” said his campaign manager, Paul Manafort, when asked if there was any room for dissent ahead of his expected confirmation as the party’s presidential nominee on Tuesday. “Yes, it is the Republican national convention, but the party is united.

“The plan is to help the American people understand more about Donald Trump the man, not just the candidate,” he added during a briefing for reporters on the eve of the four-day RNC event.

Trump’s newly announced running mate, Indiana governor Mike Pence, also defended the recent tone of the campaign during their first joint interview, aired on Sunday night.

“I think this is a good man who’s been talking about the issues the American people care about,” Pence told CBS, insisting Trump would also listen to the advice of those around him.

“I promise you that when the circumstances arise where I have a difference on policy or on presentation,” added Pence, “I know I would have no hesitation, were I privileged to be vice-president, to walk into the president’s office, close the door, and share my heart. And I also know this good man would listen, and has the leadership qualities to draw from the people around him.”



Barbara Hauser, of Texas, looks on as she waits to enter a kick-off party on the sidelines of the Republican national convention in Cleveland. Photograph: Aaron Josefczyk/Reuters

As the city of Cleveland braces for one the most elaborate security exercises in modern US history, particularly amid heightened concern over recent police shootings, organisers hope the convention will be an intimate family affair, beginning on Monday night with an introduction from Trump’s wife, Melania.

“You’re going to have his family speaking,” said Manafort as a schedule revealed Trump relatives in prime slots on each of the four nights of the convention.

“You’re going to have friends who have known him speaking. You’re going to have people who have worked with him both inside the company and outside of the company. And so you’re going to see how he’s built his successful empire.”

In response, Democrats issued a spoof speaker schedule with a list of crossed out names to highlight all the senior Republicans – from John McCain to George W Bush – who have said they would not be attending.

Described in official speakers’ notes as a “Slovenian born brunette” and an “aqua-eyed beauty” with a “captivating presence in front of the camera”, Melania Trump will cap a security-themed day on Monday entitled “make America safe again”.

Manafort said the theme was well-timed following the murder of police officers in Baton Rouge, but other scheduled speakers suggest at least part of the day will be focused on the 2012 Benghazi attack, which Republicans argue shows Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses as a potential commander-in-chief.

Police officers watch a group of activists protesting against Donald Trump in Cleveland. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

The former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is also listed as a speaker, although he was not included in a list of “headliners” circulated by the campaign on Sunday night. The highest-profile name on this list is the Iowa senator Joni Ernst, who caught national attention during the 2014 midterm election by joking that her experience castrating pigs would help her in Congress.

Manafort said the campaign was particularly pleased with the state-of-art stage erected by the Republican National Committee for the event, including a 1,700-sq ft TV display with 640 separate panels. “Mr Trump loves the stage. Mrs Trump loves it even more,” said the campaign manager.

Before the speakers, delegates will take part in an afternoon procedural session that theoretically offers the last chance to block Trump’s expected nomination the following day.

But the only potential excitement is the chance of a “floor fight” – a contested vote on the floor – over either the platform or the rules of the Republican party. Conflict over the party rules between conservative activists, many of whom are still opposed to Trump, and the GOP establishment had long been expected in Cleveland but a platform fight also brewed up last week over whether to include any language about LGBTQI people in the party platform.

To spur a vote on the floor, dissenters would need to get 28 of the 112 members of the rules committee or the platform committee respectively to sign a minority report. Dissenters on the rules committee were able to muster 31 backers on a vote last week on giving more delegates to states that hold “closed primaries” and those trying to replace the platform with a 1,200 word statement of principles had the support of 37 members of the platform committee. However, many of those 37 have since backed off, claiming that they did not realise that it would replace the entire platform.

To do so, rebels would have to beat a combined RNC-Trump whip operation that has run things with an iron fist so far. On both the platform and rules committees, the Trump campaign was texting delegates, instructing them regarding how to vote on different issues and working with delegates to maximize their procedural effectiveness. As Jordan Ross of Nevada, a delegate on the rules committee, told the Guardian on Thursday, the Trump campaign “has been working very hard” all week in order to ensure everything goes smoothly. When asked if there was anything that had happened that the Trump campaign didn’t want, Ross took a long deep pause. After about 15 seconds of silence, he said: “I am trying to think and as I go down the shopping list right now, I think we took home everything we wanted to see.”

Even if the efforts to mount a minority report fall short of the necessary signatures, there still is the potential for some chaos on the convention floor on Tuesday. Both Trump and Pence will be formally nominated then and there are enough diehard “Never Trump” delegates that there is the potential for some sort of demonstration on the floor. However, the seating arrangement for delegates means that opponents of Trump are seated in far corners of the hall.

More disruption is likely outside the arena, where police and even Ohio national guard members are mounting a giant operation to try to keep protests peaceful and prevent any terrorist attacks.

Security inside the the “secure perimeter” around the Quicken Loans Stadium, where the event’s main events are scheduled to take place, will be handled by secret service personnel.

Code Pink activists march down Euclid Avenue during a demonstration against the Republican national convention in Cleveland. Photograph: Steve Nesius/Reuters

But around one third of Cleveland’s 1,500-strong police division will be assigned to the remaining downtown areas where large protests are expected to take place. More than 2,000 officers from around the US also descending on the city over the weekend to assist the local force.

Cleveland authorities declined to name the supporting agencies, but said they numbered in the hundreds and would all fall under the command of the Cleveland police chief, Calvin Williams.

Senior Cleveland officers have been assigned zones throughout the city where they will command both local and outside officers.



The city released an exhaustive list of banned items at demonstrations within the 1.7-mile regulated “event zone”, including tennis balls, certain types of umbrellas, water guns and glass bottles. But, under Ohio’s open-carry laws, loaded firearms, including long guns, will be allowed at the rallies.



On Sunday, the president of Cleveland’s largest police union called on Ohio governor John Kasich to declare a state of emergency and suspend open carry throughout the convention in the wake of the fatal shooting of three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.



“I don’t care what the legal precedent is; I feel strongly that leadership needs to stand up and defend these police officers,” Stephen Loomis told Reuters.