Lara Trump's meteoric rise signals changing of Trump family guard
- Published
As Lara Trump strode on to centre stage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night, it was a moment that symbolised a change of guard in the Trump family that has taken place since his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Wearing a black dress and a shimmering USA flag brooch, Ms Trump - wife to Donald Trump's son Eric - used the primetime spotlight to sell voters on her father-in-law's softer edges, focusing on his role as a grandfather to her two young children.
And the party faithful roared as she raised a fist and spoke about a gunman's attempt on his life on Saturday, mirroring Trump's actions on the rally stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a bullet narrowly missed his head.
"Maybe you got to see a side of Donald Trump on Saturday that you were not sure existed, until you saw it with your own eyes," she told the crowd.
Ms Trump, 41 and now the co-chair of the Republican Party, was hand-picked by her father-in-law for that role as he runs for another White House term and stands atop a party apparatus firmly under his grip.
Ms Trump, husband Eric and his older brother Don Jr have emerged as the family's leading voices in Donald Trump's campaign against US President Joe Biden, and they are some of the most influential figures in his political orbit.
By contrast, Ivanka Trump, Trump's eldest daughter, and her husband Jared Kushner - a power couple who enjoyed a high profile in the White House after Trump's 2016 win - have kept their distance from politics over the last four years.
Lara was the first family member to officially speak at this convention and her presence has ignited interest in not just her role in the family but also any further political ambitions.
“I thought she was fantastic," said Alina Habba, Trump's legal spokeswoman who shot to prominence defending him in his civil sexual assault case in New York.
"I think she spoke from the heart. She spoke about moms. She spoke about him being a grandfather - things that only she can speak about.”
Long-time observers expect Lara Trump's prominence in the family to only grow.
"Her speech was her introduction to the nation in a big way because while she's had roles in campaigns previously and while she's been a part of Trump's inner circle and family orbit for the last eight years, this is the first time she is positioned in a role that has real power inside the Republican Party," said Eric Cortellessa, a reporter who recently interviewed Ms Trump for a Time magazine profile.
"And she's in a position where she's out to prove herself as not just an effective surrogate for Trump, but a political operator. And we're going to see that play out in the next four months as she's co-chairing the RNC."
Michele Merrell, a Republican state committeewoman for Broward county in Florida, said the appointment of Ms Trump in the RNC had made a "world of difference".
"The fundraising is going through the roof… we were not doing very well before in that. The change in leadership has been all the difference," she said. "It’s reignited the party, it really has."
Some see parallels between the role of Lara and Eric Trump in this presidential campaign, and that of Jared and Ivanka in 2016. However, Eric has a prominent role in the Trump Organization and would probably act as the eyes and ears for his father's sprawling business empire if Trump was to win the White House.
Lara is positioned to continue her ascent in the Republican Party, but there's another Trump who might also have aspirations of building a political dynasty, said Eric Cortellessa.
"Don Jr says he's not interested in politics, but everybody else around him, including his sister-in-law and brother, think that he's got a real itch for politics," he said.
"In fact Lara Trump, said to me in a recent interview - 'if there's any Trump who is going to run for higher office, look out for Don'."
Eric and Don Jr are a constant presence around their father, and have rallied around him since the attempt on his life. They were also reportedly some of the loudest voices when it came to picking JD Vance as Trump's running mate.
Don Jr, a favourite of the Make America Great Again (Maga) base, appeared tearful on Monday night when Donald Trump walked into the convention hall to a hero's welcome.
Speaking at an event on the sidelines of the convention, he spoke charismatically of his father's softer side - and like his sister-in-law sold him as a grandfather and family man.
He even introduced his 17-year-old daughter, Kai Trump, onto stage, who described Donald Trump as a "normal grandpa".
“When I made the high honor roll," she said, "he printed it out to show his friends how proud he was of me."
It's a public messaging strategy that attempts to blunt Democratic attacks on Trump as an authoritarian threat to democracy should he return to office.
"We’re having perhaps world-changing types of conversations and he’s interrupting and talking about his grandchildren for 15 minutes," Don Jr told the room.
Watch: Trump's granddaughter speaks publicly for the first time
But the emphasis on the unity and love of the family does not hide that some key members are a missing presence so far at the Republican National Convention.
Trump's wife Melania rarely appears in public with her husband and has not been seen publicly by his side since the rally shooting.
Their son Barron, 18, has not yet appeared at the convention either. He has been kept out of the public eye for years but stood to receive a standing ovation at a recent Trump rally in Miami, signalling that he might have a political future too.
Linda Stoch, the vice-president of Club 47 USA, which hosted Trump for his 78th birthday in June, dismissed the idea that Melania and Barron would not appear at the convention.
"His family have always been with him, from day one," she said.
When asked if she saw any particular Trump family member ushering in the next phase of Maga politics, Ms Stoch said we would have to wait and see.
She then paused, and added: "Maybe Barron."