Melania Trump Returns to Politics, Hosting Her First 2024 Fundraiser — for a Conservative Gay Group
While her husband's campaign espouses anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, sources say Melania will capitalize on her less inflammatory track record to court the Log Cabin Republicans, which advocates for an LGBTQ-inclusive GOP
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Melania Trump attends a D.C. naturalization ceremony as a guest on Dec. 15, 2023Melania Trump is stepping back into politics after taking time away, hosting her first major event of the 2024 election cycle at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, April 20.
She will be courting the Log Cabin Republicans, who advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in a party that's routinely done the opposite.
The former first lady, 53, recently hinted at a return to the campaign trail while visiting at a Florida polling place alongside her husband, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Standing beside Donald to welcome Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Mar-a-Lago in March — and then again in April for a glitzy campaign fundraiser — Melania appeared largely disinterested.
GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty
Donald and Melania Trump arrive at a Florida polling station to vote in the Republican presidential primary election on March 19, 2024A social source believes that with events and organizations that she personally cares about, Melania will be more engaged.
“Melania does what she believes in and makes up her own mind,” the source tells PEOPLE.
Another social source agrees Melania is not an insecure woman. “She doesn’t care what anyone says about her, or what they think about who her friends are,” that source tells PEOPLE.
Related: Rush Limbaugh Says Trump Told Him to 'Never Apologize' for Going After Pete Buttigieg's Sexuality
A source in the design world adds that Melania has gay friends and works with gay professionals, and that nobody should be surprised by her wanting to host the Log Cabin Republicans — even if their message appears incompatible with Donald's political track record.
Related: 4 Times Melania and Donald Trump Clashed at the White House, According to New Book
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Donald and Melania Trump greet reporters following a 2016 GOP presidential debate in DetroitThe April 20 fundraiser that features Melania will serve as a kickoff for Log Cabin’s "Road to Victory" program, which will target voters in critical swing states, where residents overwhelmingly support LGBTQ rights.
The former president, of course, has long pushed an anti-LGBTQ agenda rooted in hate-fueled culture wars.
In Donald's 2016 RNC speech, he vowed to do "everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens" from violence and oppression — a promise he reneged on with actions like his transgender military ban, Supreme Court nominations and increasingly inflammatory language that contributed to a slate of legislation across the nation walking back LGBTQ freedoms.
Related: Everything Donald Trump Has Said About the LGBTQ Community as President Announces Trans Military Ban
What's more, his allies' Christian nationalist roadmap for a second term, called Project 2025, aims to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people, erase evidence of transgender people, promote the "traditional" family structure, target drag art and pursue research into new conversion therapy methods.
Yet in the face of far-right leaders' overt plans to go on the offensive toward LGBTQ people, the Log Cabin Republicans appear open to helping Donald's campaign.
Related: Recapping President Donald Trump's Four Years in Office
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Donald Trump takes the stage during a New Hampshire primary night event on Jan. 23, 2024Sources close to Melania believe she will be an asset to conservative voters with socially liberal views — and says that Donald approves of her capitalizing on that strength.
“Donald says what he has to, so don’t believe everything he espouses on social issues,” a political source tells PEOPLE. “It’s hard to know his true feelings on anything because he says what the group he is talking to wants to hear.”
Another political pundit says that “since Donald tries to have it both ways, Melania has her work cut out for her.”
The Log Cabin Republicans have long been a fan of Melania's, giving her the Spirit of Lincoln Award in 2021 and saying she has a "passion for equality and believes in human rights."
“I have known the former first lady for 20 years and went to her wedding,” Robin Bernstein, the retired ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Trump, tells PEOPLE. “She has total acceptance.”
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