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Second Lady Usha Vance will lead President Donald Trump’s delegation to Italy for the 2025 Special Olympic Games, the president’s office announced Thursday.
Vance will travel to Turin where the opening ceremony will be held on Friday.
“President Donald J. Trump today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Turin, Italy to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics World Winter Games, on March 7, 2025,” the White House statement read.
“Mrs. Usha Vance, Second Lady of the United States, will lead the delegation,” it added.
A statement from the second lady’s office also noted Vance’s leadership of the delegation.
“Ms. Vance and the Presidential Delegation will join approximately 1,500 Special Olympic athletes and unified partners from 100 nations along with their families, coaches, volunteers, and thousands of fans,” a press release from the Office of the Second Lady read.
“Athletes will compete in varying Olympic events including, skating, snowboarding, floorball, etc, in hopes of bringing home Olympic gold,” it added. “The Second Lady plans to attend several events including the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony. The Presidential Delegation will return to the United States on Monday, March 10, 2025.”
Other members of the American delegation will include Shawn Crowley, Chargé d’Affaires a.i., U.S. Embassy to Italy and San Marino; T.H. Trent Michael Morse, deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of presidential personnel; Riley M. Barnes, senior bureau official of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State; Douglass Benning, consul general, U.S. Consulate Milan, Italy; Rachel Campos-Duffy, “Fox & Friends Weekend” host and wife of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy; Boris Epshteyn, senior counsel and senior advisor to President Donald Trump; and Richard Walters, partner at FGS Global.
According to the Special Olympics Winter Games website, “The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing them with ongoing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in the sharing of talents, skills, and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.”
The second lady also recently became a board member of the Kennedy Center after Trump became chairman of the board.
