Trump's campaign has been marked by frequent controversy over his rhetoric on immigration and trade that has alarmed many in the Republican establishment.
Party officials are hoping to use the convention to smooth out some of his rough edges and present him to the country as a job creator and a strong hand to combat national security threats and violent crime at home.
Trump's vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, urged the party to put divisions behind it after the primary season, in which Trump beat 16 rivals for the nomination.
"The time has come for us to come together, the primaries are over. It was a big stage up there with a lot of extraordinary talented men and women," Pence said at an event for conservatives in Cleveland. "My fellow conservatives, It’s time for us to come together. Come together around this good man and reelecting Republican majorities in the House and the Senate."
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, was to formally put Trump's name forward later on Tuesday to be the party's nominee. The candidate was to receive the blessing on stage of other senior Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Both Ryan and McConnell need Trump to do well in the November election as they seek to preserve majorities in Congress.
The theme of Tuesday's convention event was entitled "Make America Work Again," and speakers were to take aim at Obama's record on the economy.
Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort took a swipe at Clinton, saying there was a “political tint” to the fuss over the Melania Trump speech.
“It’s just another example, as far as we’re concerned, that when Hillary Clinton is threatened by a female, the first thing she tries to do is destroy the person,” Manafort told reporters.
The Clinton campaign said it had nothing to do with unearthing the similarities in the speeches.
"Nice try, not true," Jennifer Palmieri, the campaign's communication director, wrote on Twitter, adding that blaming Clinton was not the answer for every "Trump campaign problem."
The speech was mocked on Twitter, with users playfully attributing well-known quotes and song lyrics to Melania Trump using the hashtag #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes.
The tag was shared roughly 20 times per second on the social media site on Tuesday morning, according to social media analytics firm Zoomph.
In further fallout from the speech, British rock band Queen complained that the Republicans did not have authorization to use its 1977 anthem "We Are The Champions," which convention organizers played before Melania Trump took to the stage. But the RNC's Spicer said in a tweet the party had paid to license the use of the song in the arena.
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