Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and all three finalists to serve as vice president are scheduled to speak at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, the Trump campaign announced Saturday.
The campaign released a list of family members, lawmakers, celebrities and special guests who will address the convention next week in Milwaukee. Conspicuously absent from the list is former first lady Melania Trump, who is expected to attend but apparently will not deliver remarks.
Here’s a look at some of the most notable names who will speak on stage before Trump formally accepts the GOP nomination Thursday night.
Former President Trump allies and sources close to the former president’s orbit said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are considered the likeliest picks at this point for vice president.
Government officials
More than 50 elected officials are listed as headliners for the convention, including a slew of senators, a handful of governors and a number of former Trump administration officials.
DeSantis, the Florida governor who developed a fierce rivalry with Trump during the primary campaign, is among those expected to speak. So is South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), who was considered a vice-presidential contender until a wave of bad headlines over her recounting shooting her dog in a new book, among other controversies, sunk her chances.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) are all slated to speak. Trump has mentioned all four as candidates to serve as his running mate.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who some lawmakers have urged Trump to consider as a VP, will also speak. GOP Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) are also on the list.
GOP Senate candidates Kari Lake (Ariz.), Jim Banks (Ind.), Mike Rogers (Mich.), Tim Sheehy (Mont.), David McCormick (Pa.), Bernie Moreno (Ohio), Eric Hovde (Wis.), Sam Brown (Nev.), Hung Cao (Va.) and Jim Justice (W.Va.) will also give remarks, per the campaign.
Among the former White House officials slated to speak is Peter Navarro, the former trade adviser to Trump. Navarro will speak just hours after he is released from prison, where he is serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Tucker Carlson speaks at the Turning Point Action conference, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Media figures
The Trump campaign boasted a list of more than a dozen “celebrities” and industry leaders who will speak.
Perhaps the most notable name is Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who was ousted from the network in April 2023 days after it settled a blockbuster defamation lawsuit.
Reports surfaced in the weeks following his exit suggesting a factor in Fox’s decision to pull him off the air was the content of certain text messages he had sent to fellow employees at the network bashing leadership around the time of the 2020 election, and making other controversial statements, including some criticizing Trump.
Trump sat for an interview with Carlson last August instead of attending the first GOP primary debate.
Other media figures and celebrities scheduled to speak include “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood; Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks; UFC CEO Dana White; former presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy; Yammer CEO David Sacks, and Trump campaign adviser and lawyer Alina Habba.
Donald Trump, Jr. sits in the courtroom before the continuation of his civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, in New York. (Michael M. Santiago//Pool Photo via AP)
Trump family members
Four Trump family members are listed as speakers for the week.
Donald Trump Jr. is expected to give remarks on Wednesday, before the introduction of Trump’s running mate. The timing has spurred speculation that Vance, who Trump Jr. is close with, could be the pick for vice president.
Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, will also speak. Guilfoyle went viral in 2020 for her convention remarks, which were notably grim and concluded with her shouting into the microphone.
Eric Trump will speak, as will his wife, Lara Trump, who is the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Former first lady Melania Trump will not speak, nor will Ivanka Trump. Both spoke at the 2020 and 2016 conventions, with Ivanka introducing her father at both events.
Barron Trump, who is 18, was initially selected as a delegate from Florida for the convention. But Melania Trump’s office later said he would not be able to attend because of a scheduling conflict.
Other speakers
The Fiserv Forum stands on June 27, 2024, in Milwaukee. The Wisconsin city is scheduled to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The Trump campaign also announced a slate of roughly a dozen Americans who will speak at the convention to underscore aspects of the former president’s agenda.
Among those guests are Michael Morin, whose sister, Rachel Morin, was killed after going out for a job in Maryland. An immigrant who entered the country illegally has been accused of killing Morin.
Two business employees of Trump will also speak: Carrie Ruiz, a golf general manager at the former president’s property Trump National Doral, and John Nieporte, who is the head golf pro at Trump International in West Palm Beach.
Also speaking will be members of a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill fraternity who went viral after they held up the American flag at a protest on campus over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Others expected to speak include an Arizona rancher, the mother of a victim of fentanyl poisoning, multiple veterans, a petroleum engineer and a pastor.