Former President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump confirmed that his stepmother, former First Lady Melania Trump, as well as his sister Ivanka Trump, will appear at the Republican National Convention (RNC) this week.
“Ivanka’s been an incredible supporter of my father. I think you know that; she’s been in the White House for a ... four-year period of time and loves him dearly,” said the younger Trump, whose is married to Lara Trump, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Mr. Trump said that there is “no family in political history that has remained closer than our family” in recent years. “We are a family that absolutely supports him and absolutely loves him to death,” he said.
It’s not clear whether either Ivanka or Melania Trump will speak at the RNC, based on Mr. Trump’s comments. The former first lady has yet to appear at the multi-day-long event in Milwaukee, and she has not separately confirmed whether she will speak or attend.
Mr. Trump said during the Wednesday interview that his father remains in “great spirits” and is as “determined as ever” after Saturday’s attempt on his life.
Former President Trump is expected to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president during the event, and his running mate JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, is expected to speak on Thursday.
“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion—his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” Mrs. Trump said in the lengthy statement. “The core facets of my husband’s life—his human side—were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.”
Mrs. Trump also thanked those who reached out to her family “for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.”
“Thank you for your love and prayers for my father and for the other victims of today’s senseless violence in Butler, Pennsylvania,” she also said at the time.
President Joe Biden and top Republican and Democrat officials have condemned the shooting and several politicians have called on members of both political parties to curb incendiary political rhetoric. “There is no place for this kind of violence in America. It’s sick,” the president told reporters Saturday in the aftermath of the incident.
Saturday’s attack was the first major assassination attempt targeting a current or former president since President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in 1981 in Washington by a lone gunman.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Hill, Pennsylvania, as the suspect who fired the shots toward former President Trump. The shooter was immediately killed by a Secret Service sniper after he opened fire, officials have said.
Four days after the shooting, the FBI has not publicly identified a motive for Mr. Crooks, while his family members have yet to give a lengthy interview to the media about the incident. A phone used by the shooting suspect was cracked by the FBI earlier this week, and at least 100 people have been interviewed so far, the bureau announced.
