First Lady Melania Trump will headline the second night of the Republican National Convention from the Rose Garden after delegates hear from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo delivering a pitch for the president's re-election taped during a taxpayer-ficed visit to Jerusalem.
President Donald Trump will make several appearances from the White House as he did on Monday, and two of his children, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump, will be among speakers saluting the president's handling of issues including trade and immigration.
With "land of opportunity" as the theme, the convention will spotlight an array of Trump supportersfrom a Maine lobsterman to an anti-abortion activist and from the granddaughter of evangelist Billy Graham to the Democratic mayor of Eveleth, Minnesota.
Despite promises of an upbeat convention, Monday night's opening session was dominated by dark images of "radical socialists" taking over the country if Democrat Joe Biden wins the November election and glowing tributes to Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 177,000 Americans.
Melania Trump is scheduled to close Tuesday's programme with remarks live from the White House Rose Garden, which was recently renovated in a project she oversaw. The president and a small audience are expected to be there as well.
The Slovenian-born first lady has concentrated on a few favourite issues including her "Be Best" campaign against online bullying among youths, a contrast with her husband's sharp-edged Twitter attacks.
She'll also talk about being a mother and why her husband should have another four years in office, her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, told newsmen on Tuesday.
"It's very uplifting, it's very positive, it reflects on her time as first lady, her favourite moments," Grisham said.
Melania Trump will seek to avoid the controversy she generated from her speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland because of suggestions that portions were lifted from Michelle Obama's address to the Democratic convention in 2008.
POMPEO'S TRIP
Pompeo, who's seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, will speak from Jerusalem during an official trip to the Middle East.
It appears to violate State Department guidance that prohibits participation in political conventions and politicking while on official travel. It's also a departure from past secretaries who steered clear of conventions to avoid partisan politics.
Perhaps anticipating the uproar that arose over his appearance, Pompeo is portraying it as a message from a private citizen. He said in a tweet that he'll be "sharing with you how my family is more SAFE and more SECURE because of President Trump."
Also scheduled to speak on Tuesday are Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Nicholas Sandmann. He won settlements from several media outlets for portraying him as provoking a confrontation with a Native American protester while wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap during a high school trip to Washington the previous year.
Paul's libertarian background may appeal to a section of the Republican Party base that's especially concerned about limiting government intervention. Although he's a Trump supporterand sometimes a golf partnerhe's differed with the president on issues including federal spending and the debt, federal agents rounding up protesters in Portland, Oregon, and military action abroad.
Kudlow and Economy Trade and the economy also will be featured with scheduled speeches headlined by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and speakers backing Trump's trade policies, including Minnesota dairy farmer Cris Peterson, and John Peterson, chief executive officer of Wisconsin-based metal fabricator Schuette Metals.
As with Monday night's programme, Republicans will spotlight diversity with appearances by Blacks and Latinos who support Trump, including Jeanette Nunez, Florida's first Latina lieutenant-governor, and Kentucky Attorney-General Daniel Cameron, the first Black man elected to a statewide office there, according to the Trump campaign.
Jon Ponder, founder and chief executive officer of Hope for Prisoners, a nonprofit designed to help individuals re-enter society, is scheduled to speak along with Richard Beasley, the previous FBI agent who arrested Ponder for bank robbery, the campaign said. Trump has touted his success in enacting criminal-justice reform and blamed Biden for legislation that increased federal sentencing guidelines.