Kellyanne Conway, who headed Donald Trump’s first campaign and served in the White House as a senior adviser, gave a shout-out to Melania Trump in a Wednesday night speech at the Republican National Convention, describing her as his “extraordinary, elegant, beautiful, brilliant wife.”
But the former first lady was still notably absent from the convention in Milwaukee on Day 3.
She will appear at the convention at some point, the former president’s son Eric said in an interview with CBS, along with Trump’s daughter Ivanka. “They’re coming in and in full force and effect, so they’ll certainly be here,” he said. “Ivanka’s been an incredible supporter of my father … and obviously Melania, as well.”
Neither is on the list of announced convention headliners and keynote speakers.
Her absence from the list of speakers is a notable break from a decades-long tradition in which the wives of Republican presidential nominees deliver remarks at the convention.
She delivered remarks at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions, but she has largely abstained from participating in political events since leaving the White House and has not attended any of her husband’s campaign rallies in recent months.
After the attempted assassination of the former president, Melania Trump on Sunday released a lengthy statement expressing sympathy for the victims of the shooting and thanking those bridging the political divide by “remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.” She also wrote that when she saw the shooting Saturday, she realized her life and the life of their son, Barron, “were on the brink of devastating change.”
There have been some exceptions for public appearances at political events, including attending a few fundraisers in April, but the former first lady did not attend Trump’s first presidential debate against President Biden last month. She also wasn’t at any of the court proceedings in her husband’s hush money trial in New York, nor was she seen in public with Trump after a jury found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Several Trump family members have delivered remarks at the convention: Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.; his granddaughter Kai Trump; his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, a Republican National Committee co-chair; and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée. Trump’s daughter Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos, were seated with the family, but neither was scheduled to speak.
Ivanka Trump said in 2022 that she would support her father outside the political arena moving forward. She still plans to attend the 2024 convention for her father’s Thursday night speech, but she will not participate in the convention in any political role, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions.
Barron Trump, 18, is also not scheduled to speak.
Patrick Svitek, Josh Dawsey and Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.