U.S. Second Lady Usha Vance has been appointed to head the presidential delegation to Italy for the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games, as announced by the Office of President Donald Trump on Thursday. Vance will represent the delegation in Turin, Italy, the host city for this year’s Games, with the opening ceremony set for Friday.
Usha Vance, a lawyer, has been married to Vice President JD Vance since 2014, and they have three children together.
During a recent address by Trump to a joint session of Congress, Usha was seated next to former high school volleyball player Payton McNabb. McNabb expressed her disappointment to media outlets after learning that Trump’s executive order regarding transgender athletes’ participation in women’s and girls’ sports was not codified into law by the Senate.
“Last night, the Democrat Party was incredibly disrespectful,” McNabb remarked, referring to party members who wore pink during the session. “They failed to acknowledge any of the guests, including DJ Daniel, a young boy who survived brain cancer, and the family of Laken Riley, whose daughter suffered a tragic death that should never have occurred. Every guest had a powerful story, yet they received no applause.”
She concluded, “It was heartbreaking, and while I wish I could say I was surprised, I’m not.”
The White House has also announced other members of the presidential delegation, including Shawn Crowley, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at the U.S. Embassy to Italy and San Marino; T.H. Trent Michael Morse, deputy assistant to the president; Riley M. Barnes, senior bureau official at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Douglass Benning, consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Milan; Rachel Campos-Duffy, host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” and wife of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy; Boris Epshteyn, senior counsel and advisor to President Trump; and Richard Walters, partner at FGS Global.
