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It was around the time when one of the delegates to the RNC yelled, “Kai Trump 2040!” when the scope of the Trump takeover of the Republican Party was suddenly laid very bare.
Major-party conventions often feature family members and friends close to the person at the top of the ticket. It’s nothing new. But the Trumpification of the GOP which was on full display this week took that trend to the extreme — and made clear that the continued strength of the MAGA movement would not only persist through 2024, but well into the future.
A speech Wednesday evening from 17-year-old Kai Trump, granddaughter of Donald and eldest daughter to Don Jr, was largely unremarkable in terms of its content. The younger Trump espoused the familial qualities of her grandfather — “To me, he’s just a normal grandpa” who slips the grandkids “candy and soda” — as she’d have been expected to do. But the three generations of Donald Trump’s family all participating in the RNC this year are decidedly a larger part of the process than family members of a president — current or former — have ever played in a presidential nominating convention.
In addition to the speech from Kai Trump, this week has featured speeches from most of Trump’s adult children and their spouses. Sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric spoke, as did Don Jr’s wife Kimberly Guilfoyle (a Fox personality and Rumble host), as well as Eric’s wife Lara (co-chair of the Republican Party, installed by Trump after the resignation of Ronna McDaniel.) Only absent so far from the speaking stage are Ivanka Trump and Jared Kuschner, set to be in attendance without speaking roles, and Melania, who is taking a decidedly less public role in her husband’s third campaign for the presidency. Although Melania and Donald’s 18-year-old son Barron was originally named on a list of delegates, Melania later clarified that Barron would not serve as a delegate due to “prior commitments”.
Nevertheless, the message to Trump’s critics within the party was clear: We’re going nowhere. And if the past two election cycles are anything to judge by, they’re correct. Just ask JD Vance.
Trump’s running mate, announced on Monday, is a perfect example of how the president’s family is taking a very direct approach to engineering the party’s future. This is a senator who, one and a half years into a six-year freshman term, beat out a host of more senior Republicans to be selected at the convention. Those more senior Republicans included Marco Rubio, once seen as a rising star in the party; Doug Burgum, a state governor; and Tim Scott, the Senate’s lone Black Republican, as well as an avowed Trump loyalist.
Vance’s ascension was Trump-touched from the very beginning. Reporting in 2022 indicated that Vance had formed an early alliance with Donald Trump Jr as he and another candidate, Josh Mandel, competed for the ex-president’s endorsement.
As was the case this year, Vance won that endorsement over a Republican with more political experience than he. And in two years he has kept up a high-enough profile in the Senate and in the news media to keep Trump’s attention, allowing his vertical climb to continue at a breakneck pace. In 2024, it was reported that Vance was once again Don Jr’s favorite to be selected as running mate — against objections from such heavyweights as Rupert Murdoch, the baron of News Corp who owns The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, and Lindsey Graham, a major Trump hanger-on in the Senate.
This week’s convention raises a question: When will the Republican Party emerge from the shadow of Trump’s influence and dominance? The answer: no time soon. Trump, according to polling, is favored to win the presidential election in the fall while his daughter-in-law presides over the national party and his eldest son plays kingmaker in congressional primary races around the country. Though political families in the US are hardly unheard of — a quick look at the Kennedys, the Clintons and the Bushes confirms that — this coordinated effort at all levels of the party is unique.
Simply put, it’s not just Donald’s show anymore. It’s everyone’s.
