Melania Trump, shaken by husband's shooting, to make rare RNC appearance

MILWAUKEE — When Donald Trump formally accepts the Republican nomination on Thursday, he’ll be joined by someone who is rarely seen on the campaign trail: His wife Melania.

Her appearance in Milwaukee will mark her first major political appearance with Trump since he announced his 2024 campaign almost two years ago. But it also comes at a personally dark moment, just days after her husband survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Those close to Trump’s family say the shooting deeply rattled Melania Trump, a private person who is also experiencing personal life changes beyond the shooting and her husband’s campaign.

“I think she’s shaken,” said former Ambassador Ric Grenell at a Bloomberg event on Monday. Her 18-year-old son “Barron goes to school this summer, so it's a difficult time for parents to go from having your child around all the time to leaving the nest.”