Where is Melania Trump? Former First Lady absent from first night of RNC

Amid the numerous speakers that rounded out the first and second nights of the Republican National Convention, where former President Donald Trump was formally nominated as the Republican candidate for president, one person was notably absent: the former First Lady, Melania Trump.

Melania Trump did not appear and did not speak Monday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the same night her husband selected JD Vance as his vice-presidential running mate and only days after an attempted assassination on Trump at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Speakers from the first night of the convention included Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC and Amber Rose, who praised Melania Trump in a speech onstage. Speakers supporting Trump's reelection bid Tuesday included House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who endorsed Trump onstage.

The former First Lady is not on the list of headliners and speakers this year, although she does plan to attend the convention.

Here's what to know about Melania Trump's Monday and Tuesday night absence.

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Where was Melania Trump at the Republican National Convention?

The former First Lady was absent during night one and two of the convention, even as Trump formally accepted the nomination as the Republican candidate for president.

Spouses of Republican presidential candidates are typically present and give a speech during the convention, and her absence is a break in a long tradition.

She previously spoke in at Republican National Conventions in both 2020 and in 2016, when she gave a speech with sections that appeared to be remarkably similar to a speech former First Lady Michelle Obama gave at the Democratic National Convention eight years earlier.

Has Melania Trump been campaigning with Trump?

The former First Lady has been rarely seen on the campaign trail this year, although she has appeared at private events including closed fundraisers and was spotted with Trump at a polling place for the Florida primary in March.

"Stay tuned," she said when asked about her return to the campaign trail, USA TODAY previously reported.

She has also been absent from primary victory celebrations, as well as Trump's hush money trial in New York, where he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Melania Trump issues statement after assassination attempt

In a statement issued Sunday, the day after an attempted assassination on Trump at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former First Lady thanked Secret Service agents for protecting her husband and called on Americans to "ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence."

“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 in a statement.

She criticized the "monster" who attempted the assassination. The shooter has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks and was killed by law enforcement officials moments after shots were fired.

Contributing: Rebecca Morin, David Jackson and Rachel Barber, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Melania Trump absent from RNC Monday, not on list of speakers