Where Was Melania Trump on First Night of RNC? Former First Lady Has Smaller Role This Year

The former first lady is not scheduled to speak at this year's Republican National Convention like she did in 2016 and 2020

Melania Trump did not speak — or even appear — at the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where her husband Donald Trump was officially named the Republican presidential nominee after a delegate roll call vote.

Her absence was particularly noticeable as Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who was announced as Trump's running mate on Monday, paraded around the convention floor with his wife, Usha.

Related: Republican National Convention Live: The Trump-Vance Ticket Takes Center Stage in Milwaukee

It’s a decades-long tradition for spouses of presidential nominees to speak during conventions, and Melania previously spoke at the RNC in 2016 and 2020 — but she is not on the slate of speakers for the 2024 convention.

Tuesday night is often when spouses are slated to address the convention crowd. This year, Tuesday's evening session will feature remarks from the likes of new RNC co-chair Lara Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Melania is expected to appear at the RNC by Thursday at the latest, when former President Trump gives his finale speech.

Melania has made very few appearances on the campaign trail this year. She publicly supported her husband by casting her presidential primary ballot at a Palm Beach, Fla., polling location in March, and she hosted an April fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ-inclusive conservative group.

When asked after voting in the primary whether she would make more appearances on the campaign trial, Melania replied, “Stay tuned.”

Sources have long told PEOPLE that Melania prefers to distance herself from her husband’s political appearances — especially while Donald dealt with the fallout of a hush money case involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels, for which he was found guilty on 34 felony counts.

“It is not comfortable for her,” sources told PEOPLE last year.

Following the assassination attempt on her husband on Saturday, July 13, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., Melania released an emotional statement, in which she asked Americans to put “love, compassion, kindness and empathy” above politics.

“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” she wrote. “Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love.”

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She referred to the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a “monster” who thought of her husband as “an inhuman political machine.”

“The core facets of my husband’s life — his human side — were buried below the political machine,” she said. “Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.”

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