US election: Donald Trump names Gov Mike Pence as running mate

Donald Trump has named Governor Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate on Friday, adding to the Republican ticket a traditional conservative who boasts strong credentials with the Christian right, and bringing an end to a vice presidential selection process that seemed at risk of spinning out of control.
New York Times reported that Mr Trump announced the choice shortly before 11 a.m., the time at which he had planned to unveil his selection at an event in Manhattan.
But instead of a showy rollout in a Midtown hotel, Mr Trump named Mr Pence as his running mate on Twitter, after abruptly canceing their joint event in the aftermath of the attack in Nice, France, on Thursday evening.
By choosing Mr Pence as his partner, Mr Trump has opted both to bow to political convention and also to gamble on a comparatively untested choice. Mr Pence cuts a far more generic political profile than Mr Trump; he is viewed by Republicans in Washington and Indiana as a sturdy and predictable politician.
At the same time, Mr Pence has a record of hard-line views on cultural issues that Mr Trump has tended to downplay in the presidential race. In Mr Pence, Mr Trump now has a running mate who has advocated for defunding Planned Parenthood and restricting abortion rights, and who signed a religious freedom law that critics said would lead to discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Mr Trump and Mr Pence, who have no personal friendship that predates the campaign, are expected to appear together in public on Saturday. The Trump campaign previously committed to a joint interview on the CBS show “60 Minutes.”
Mr Trump had previously said he considered the circumstances on Friday inopportune for rolling out a major political decision, before reversing course and naming Mr Pence as his running mate on social media.