While the assassination attempt of Donald Trump has been the big news of the week, it is his daughter-in-law who is tipped to continue his legacy.
Lara Trump, married to the patriarch's third child Eric, is a TV host and producer who is now chairing the Republican National Committee.
The 41-year-old has stepped into the limelight, tasked with presenting her father-in-law as a wholesome American man and doting grandfather to her two children.
She has seamlessly taken over a feminine face of the Trump campaign, a role previously filled by his daughter Ivanka before she stepped back from frontline politics.
But just like Donald Trump was never intended to be the son who took on the family’s realty business, the path has changed to allow the emergence of a new star of the right.
But who is Lara Trump and how did we get here?
Who is Lara Trump?
Before becoming host of Real News Update, a bitesize video bulletin that was a mouthpiece for the Trump Administration between 2017 and 2020, the former Lara Yunaska had a meandering career.
She studied communications at North Carolina State University, then achieved a degree in pastry arts at the French Culinary Institute in NYC.
After marrying her husband in 2014, she has been a personal trainer and was on the board of the Eric Trump Foundation, which closed in 2016.
But her second (or third or fourth or…) career path has been her most visible. Since the mid-2010s, she has been a cheerleader for Mr Trump’s political ambitions and has gathered nearly two million followers on Instagram.
And like her father-in-law, she is often seen on the golf course.
Despite her relative lack of experience, she has contributed to news magazine Inside Edition and cut through to audiences when she presented Real News Update.
What role is Lara Trump now playing?
Ms Trump became co-chair of the committee in May and proved a hit, her appointment leading to an increase in funding for the party. This has been particularly necessary, with Mr Trump needing election spending money on top of his legal fees.
AP reports that Trump supporters say Lara is “breathing new life into the party” and say her “charisma and dogged work ethic make her an ideal choice to serve as its champion”.
The shooting incident in Butler has not passed her by as an opportunity.
"Maybe you got to see a side of Donald Trump on Saturday that you were not sure existed, until you saw it with your own eyes," she told the Republican National Convention on Tuesday.
By reshaping the perception of her boss and father-in-law, Lara Trump is too becoming a household name and is primed to continue his legacy.
