This Year’s RNC Speakers Include VP Hopefuls, GOP Lawmakers and UFC’s CEO — but Not Melania Trump

BY  JILL COLVIN AND BRIAN SLODYSKO

NEW YORK (AP) — Former first lady Melania Trump will attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, making a rare political appearance. But unlike in years past, she is not expected to address the gathering where her husband, former President Donald Trump, will formally accept the Republican nomination.

While in the White House, Melania Trump sought to maintain her privacy and was often a reluctant presence on the campaign trail. This election season, she’s largely avoided appearing on the campaign altogether.

Convention organizers released a full list of speakers Saturday that did not include the former first lady. A person familiar with the schedule confirmed that she would attend but not speak at the event. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

The list has the three top contenders for the vice presidential nomination — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — as well as a mix of Trump allies from inside and outside government.

Melania Trump has spoken at the last two Republican conventions. Spouses of presumptive nominees generally give speeches that describe their partners’ backgrounds and personal qualities.

During a 2020 convention upended by the coronavirus, Melania Trump said that her husband “would not rest” until he “has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic.” Four years before that, she told the audience in Cleveland about her upbringing in Slovenia and attested to her husband’s toughness and loyalty.

Her speechwriter in 2016 offered to resign after it was discovered some lines in her address were nearly identical to passages from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama.

Those who are slated to speak this year include Trump’s two oldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Lee Greenwood, the singer of Trump’s walk-on song, “God Bless the USA,” is also on the program, as is the model and rapper Amber Rose and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.

Other notable names include evangelist Franklin Graham, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and the mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, who was highly critical of President Joe Biden’s response to a 2023 train derailment that spewed a cloud of hazardous chemicals into the air.

Some senior Trump campaign officials credit the former president’s trip to the town in the aftermath of the derailment as one of the most significant moments of his campaign and key to his transformation from exiled former leader to GOP front-runner.

Also appearing on stage will be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump’s fiercest primary rivals. But while DeSantis will appear, Nikki Haley was not invited. Trump remains angry with Haley over her refusal to drop out of the race until March.

The schedule includes former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is currently in jail on contempt of Congress charges, the AP first reported Friday. Navarro is set to be released from a Miami prison on Wednesday, July 17, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ online database of current inmates. That would give him just enough time to board a plane and make it to Milwaukee before the convention wraps Thursday.

Navarro was found guilty in September of contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The program will also feature former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who at one point considered running against Trump but ultimately decided against it.

The campaign previously announced a list of “regular people” who will be featured, including a group of students and fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, parents having trouble making ends meet, and his former golf caddie.

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Slodysko reported from Washington.