The 2020 Republican National Convention was held from August 24 to 27, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, plans to convene a traditional large-scale convention were cancelled a few weeks before the convention. Primary venues of the downscaled convention that was instead staged included the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., with many other remote venues also being utilized.

The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, but on June 2, 2020, President Donald Trump (who was to be renominated at the convention) and the Republican National Committee jointly decided to pull the event from Charlotte after the North Carolina state government declined to agree to Trump's demands to allow the convention to take place with a full crowd and without public health measures designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and face coverings. Trump then announced that the convention would be moved to Jacksonville, Florida, but subsequently cancelled the Jacksonville convention plans on July 23. Official business proceedings of the convention were still staged in Charlotte, albeit dramatically reduced in scale, while the remainder of the convention was centered in Washington, D.C. Most speeches were delivered at Washington, D.C.'s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. In contrast to most conventions, the majority of speeches were prerecorded. Some aspects of the convention were held remotely at various locations (such as Fort McHenry and the White House), including the acceptance speeches by nominees Trump and Pence, as well as speeches by their wives.

Dates of convention The convention was held August 24–27, 2020. A decades-long "gentlemen's agreement" between the two parties has held that the party of the incumbent president holds its convention at a later date than the other party, By this tradition, because Republicans held the presidency, their convention was conducted after the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was held from August 17–20.

Democrats had initially scheduled their convention to be held July 13–16. This was prior to the scheduled dates for the (ultimately postponed) 2020 Summer Olympics. As Summer Olympics are a major event that attracts tremendous public attention, the major parties schedule their presidential so as not to overlap with the Olympics.Republicans then scheduled their convention for dates that were shortly after the planned close of the Olympics. While, due to the pandemic, Democrats delayed their convention to August, their new date still honored the tradition of the incumbent party holding its convention at a later date than the non-incumbent party..

Initial plans for a convention in Charlotte

Site selection Las Vegas, Nevada, and Charlotte, North Carolina, were mentioned as possible locations for the 2020 RNC due to their locations within "swing states." Neither had ever hosted a Republican National Convention, although Charlotte had hosted the 2012 Democratic National Convention. A Charlotte television station, WBTV, reported that Charlotte, Las Vegas, and "another unnamed city in Texas, which sources at the meeting said were likely either Dallas or San Antonio" were finalists to host the convention. Other sources named Dallas, Texas, and New York City, New York, as prospective hosts, while Las Vegas, Nevada; Nashville, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Antonio, Texas had been under consideration earlier. However, Charlotte was the only city in the country to officially submit a bid for the convention. On July 18, 2018, the RNC Site Selection Committee voted unanimously to recommend holding the convention in Charlotte. The Republican National Committee made the selection official on July 20.

Following President Trump's rally in Greenville, North Carolina, the Charlotte City Council proposed retracting their bid to host the convention. All nine Democrats on the city council voted on a measure calling Trump a racist for his statement ("good people on both sides" of the statue debate). The city met in closed sessions with an attorney regarding their contract to host the convention. A conclusion was made that breaking the contract would likely end with the city being taken to court and forced to host the convention. A resolution was eventually approved by the Charlotte City Council.

Charlotte host committee Charlotte businessman John Lassiter served as the president and CEO of the Charlotte 2020 Host Committee. Ned Curran, Doug Lebda, and Walter Price served as co-chairs, and were named to those positions in 2018.

The host committee appointed Stephanie Batsell as its volunteer coordinator, John Burleson as its communications director, Heather Dodgins as its director of donor engagement, Haley Habenicht as its events manager, Rachel Kelley as its finance director, and Stephanie Speers as its accounting manager.

The committee released a statement after most of the convention had shifted to Jacksonville criticizing the Republican National Committee for "broken promises".

The committee originally reported raising $44 million for the convention. Due to the majority of the event being shifted away from Charlotte, the Charlotte host committee had millions in leftover funds which it could distribute with few restrictions. The committee originally promised in mid-August to give $3.2 million in funds to local nonprofits and community groups. However, by October, they had only distributed under $400,000 in funds.

Withdrawal of convention hub from Charlotte On June 2, 2020, President Donald Trump (who was to be renominated at the convention) and the Republican National Committee jointly decided to pull the event from Charlotte after the North Carolina state government declined to agree to Trump's demands to allow the convention to take place with a full crowd and without public health measures designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and face coverings. Trump chose to relocate the convention to another state, in hopes of circumventing North Carolina's pandemic health restrictions so that Trump could be re-nominated in front of a full-scale in-person convention crowd.

Plans for a convention in Jacksonville

On May 25, 2020, Trump raised the possibility of moving the convention out of Charlotte after North Carolina governor Roy Cooper stated that the convention would need to be scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 2, 2020, after weeks of failed negotiations, Governor Cooper rejected the plans submitted by the Republican Party to host a full-scale convention. Trump announced the cancellation via tweet, stating, "Because of [Cooper], we are now forced to seek another state to host the 2020 Republican National Convention."

On June 11, the Republican National Committee confirmed that the main events and speeches of the convention would move to Jacksonville, Florida, including Trump's nomination acceptance speech on August 27 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. However the convention's official business was to remain in Charlotte with a greatly reduced agenda and number of delegates. August 24 was to see a portion of the convention hosted in Charlotte, with the following three days of the convention being held in Jacksonville.

Cancellation of Jacksonville plans With the explosion of COVID-19 cases in Florida (peaking at above 15,000 new cases per day in mid-July), the possibility of the Jacksonville convention being canceled as well began to be discussed. Several of the local health restrictions in Charlotte that had prompted the RNC to seek a different location—requirements for people to wear masks and practice social distancing—were later adopted by Jacksonville. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was 86 years old, said he would skip the convention for the first time in 40 years due to the risk of COVID-19.

On July 23, Trump announced that RNC events scheduled in Jacksonville, Florida, had been cancelled, saying, "The timing for the event is not right." However, Trump also announced that delegate business would still continue in Charlotte.

Relocation of most convention activity to Washington, D.C.

On August 14, it was announced that much of the convention would take place at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. (part of the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building), which would serve as the convention's "central hub". Some convention proceedings, albeit dramatically reduced in scale, were still held in Charlotte, such as "small, formal business meetings." Most speeches were delivered at Washington, D.C.'s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. Other events and festivities, including Trump's acceptance speech, were held remotely at various locations, including Fort McHenry and the White House.

With some events in Charlotte and most in Washington, D.C., the convention It was also the first major party nominating convention since the 1860 Democratic National Conventions to be centered in two different cities. It was the first-ever Republican National Convention to do so.

Committee on Arrangements and related leadership The Committee on Arrangements for the convention was formed in July 2018. It had fifteen departments with a staff of roughly 120. The members of its executive committee, announced on July 26, 2018, were Chairman Toni Anne Dashiell, Co-chair Glenn McCall, Vice Chairs Jane Timken and Luis Fortuño, Treasurer Ron Kaufman, and Secretary Vicki Drummond. Former White House director of management and administration Marcia Lee Kelly was named convention president and chief executive officer in April 2019. Stephen "Max" Everett served as the convention's vice president and chief information officer. Other leadership team members included Chief of Program Whitney Anderson, deputy director of Operations and Buildout Luke Bullock, Chief of Staff and Director of Ticketing Christina "CC" Cobaugh, deputy director of Operations Kelly Eaton, Director of Communications Blair Ellis, National Press Secretary Tatum Gibson, Director of Signature Events Coordination Kelsey Gorman, deputy director of External Affairs Susan Haney, Director of Transportation Dustin Hendrix, Digital Director Doug Hochberg, deputy director of Finance Jinger Kelley, deputy director of Logistics Flow & Signage Andy King, deputy director of Transportation Thomas Krol, Director of Logistics Flow & Signange Edith "Dee Dee" Lancaster, counsel Joy Lee, Chief of Infrastructure Christine "Chris" Lesko, Director of Delegate Experience Diandra Lopez, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Maxwell, Chief Public Affairs Officer Dan McCarthy, Director of Administration Mallory McGough, Director of Security Robert "Bob" O’Donnell, Chief Logistics Officer Jonathan "Jonny" Oringdulph, Director of Special Projects Yandrick Paraison, Director of Community Affairs Russell Peck, deputy director of Security Max Poux, Director of Executive Operations Christopher Reese, Director of Operations James Sample, Director of Media Operations Lisa Shoemaker, and deputy director of Administration Megan Schenewerk.

Former White House director of management and administration Marcia Lee Kelly was named convention president and CEO in April 2019.

Charlotte business session