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After months of being conspicuously absent from the campaign trail, Melania Trump is scheduled to attend the Republican National Convention next week.
A source familiar with the convention's plans told NBC News that the former first lady will be at the four-day event in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump will officially accept his party's nomination. It's not yet clear if she will join the lineup of speakers at the convention or how she might formally participate in the event's programs.
One of the more inscrutable figures in her husband’s orbit, Melania Trump shares his disdain of the media and has kept a low profile in this election. The presumptive nominee told NBC News’ “Meet The Press” in September that his wife would be on the campaign trail with him “pretty soon.” But to date, she has only made two official public appearances for his campaign: joining him when he announced his re-election bid in November 2022 and voting for him in the Florida primaries in March this year. She has also attended several private fundraisers, as well as a dinner at Mar-a-Lago for Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán in March.
The former first lady has otherwise not attended any of Trump's rallies or public events, and she did not accompany him to court during his hush money trial.
There will be heightened focus on Melania Trump if she does address the convention this year. In 2016, her RNC speech was found to have plagiarized parts of Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. She also spoke at the convention in 2020, though much of that speech focused on her experience as first lady.