WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's hopes to salvage a four-night celebration for his reelection campaign have been thwarted by spiking coronavirus cases across the Sun Belt, with the president announcing Thursday that he was calling off the public events of the Republican National Convention scheduled to be held in Florida.

Trump had already moved the convention from North Carolina and dramatically scaled back its programming and attendance in Jacksonville in an effort to keep it on track. But the nights of “infomercial” programming and parties appeared to be both a health and political risk to Trump and his advisers, who feared that going forward with the event, set to draw more than 10,000, would ultimately backfire on the president.

“It's a different world, and it will be for a little while,” Trump said, explaining his decision during one of his newly resuscitated White House briefings on the coronavirus. “To have a big convention is not the right time.”

A small subset of GOP delegates will still formally renominate Trump on Aug. 24 in Charlotte, the original host city before Trump moved the ceremonial portions of the GOP convention to Florida last month amid a dispute with North Carolina's Democratic leaders over holding an event indoors with maskless supporters. That event is scheduled to last just four hours in the morning.

Trump's plans for the Florida convention scaled back almost as quickly as it was announced, as virus cases spiked in Florida and much of the country over the last month.

Trump said he would deliver an acceptance speech in an alternate form, potentially online.

Trump said thousands of his supporters and delegates wanted to attend the events in Florida, but “I just felt it was wrong” to attract them to a virus hotspot. Some of them would have faced quarantine requirements when they returned to their home states from the convention.

“We didn't want to take any chances,” he added. “We have to be vigilant. We have to be careful and we have to set an example.”

WASHINGTON — Two government watchdogs said Thursday that they had opened investigations into the conduct of federal agents responding to unrest in Portland, Ore., following abuse of power allegations by members of Congress, local officials and the public.The Justice Department watchdog said that it would investigate use of force allegations in Portland, while its counterpart at the Department of Homeland Security said it would examine whether officers from the agency improperly detained and transported protesters in the city last week.The Justice Department is also examining the training and instruction provided to the federal agents who responded last month to protest activity at Lafayette Square, near the White House. Among the questions being studied are whether the agents followed department guidelines on the use of chemical agents and less lethal munitions and whether they followed identification requirements.Democrats in Congress cheered the announcement of the investigations. The chairs of the Judiciary, Homeland Security and Oversight committees issued a joint statement saying many federal agents are dressed as soldiers, driving unmarked vehicles and refusing to identify themselves or the agencies where they work.By Associated Press