Melania Trump headlines naturalization event at National Archives

Former first lady Melania Trump will headline a naturalization event at the National Archives this month.

The event will mark Bill of Rights Day, with the naturalization of over two dozen people, the Archives said in a press release on Monday, with a ceremony at 10 a.m. Dec. 15.

“The ceremony, held in the historic National Archives Rotunda, will see 25 people from 25 nations sworn in as new U.S. citizens in front of the Constitution and our nation’s other founding documents,” the release said. Trump and Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan will give remarks.

Trump hails from Slovenia. She is only the second first lady to be born outside the U.S.

Her participation, though, is notable due to her husband’s legal issues related to the Archives.

The National Archives had tried to retrieve documents stored at former President Trump’s Florida home for months. In January 2022, officials took 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago, and the Archives asked the Justice Department (DOJ) to examine the former president’s handling of documents. An investigation resulted in the execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago by the FBI later that year. 

The former president faces Espionage Act charges in the Mar-a-Lago case after refusing to return classified records from his time as president, as well as obstruction of justice charges for his efforts to conceal them from prosecutors.

The trial is scheduled to begin May 20.