For months, Donald Trump has talked about how his wife and children have asked him to be more “presidential.” His campaign aides, at various points in time, have talked about how he will “tone it down." At the Republican National Convention, the billionaire is calling on his children to make those predictions come true.

Trump entered the race as an unapologetically harsh candidate, skewering “political correctness” and sparing no insults as he carved through a pack of Republican rivals. But while Trump publicly slashed and burned, his family — particularly his daughter Ivanka — have said the Trump they see in private is more reserved and respectful, someone who gives people of all backgrounds the opportunity to rise. The type of candidate, in other words, who could unify a broader swath of the electorate behind him.


So far, however, that promise has gone largely unfulfilled. A month into his head-to-head matchup with Hillary Clinton, Trump’s public persona is little changed from the primary. Presented with an opportunity to use a softer touch after the ISIL-inspired mass shooting in Orlando, Trump went in the other direction, delivering one of his most fiery performances to date — both in the policies he proposed and the rhetoric he deployed while doing it.

Now, the convention offers Trump, the consummate showman, his best chance at showing his softer side, and his children will be a major part of the effort to do it.

According to a source close to Trump’s circle and briefed on the convention plans, all of Trump’s grown children will be speaking at the convention. Though the plans are still in flux, there will be a clear focus on Ivanka, who may have a Wednesday night speaking slot. There are even discussions of having Ivanka introduce Trump when he accepts the nomination on the convention's final night, instead of the tycoon’s wife, Melania.

The source said that sons Donald Jr. and Eric will also speak, likely on topics such as the Second Amendment, Benghazi and national security.

Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr., will also be playing key roles off the convention stage. According to another campaign source close to the convention planning, one or more of Trump’s children could head to Cleveland a week early to serve as an envoy to delegates on committees determining convention rules and the party platform, as well as, possibly, to do several cable news interviews.

And all three of the children — as well as Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, who is already playing a major role in the campaign as a speechwriter and envoy to the Republican Party establishment — are scheduled to appear every morning of the convention at delegation breakfasts. It’s largely in an effort to isolate, or even snuff out, potential anti-Trump speakers looking to mount a challenge to Trump’s nomination.

“We’re looking at those delegations that may be on the margins and making sure we’ve got people there,” the same source said. “And there are no more effective people to carry Trump’s message than his children.”

Representatives for the Trump campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Audrey Scagnelli, national press secretary for the Republican convention, directed questions about the Trump children’s involvement and speaking slots to the campaign.

The stakes for a rebranding, or at least a shift, are high. The approach that made him so successful in the primary has, thus far, left him trailing Hillary Clinton both in many national polls, as well as in the contested states whose Electoral College votes are expected to decide the next president. If Trump is to close that gap, he’ll either have to turn out his base support in record numbers, or find a way to spread his appeal to more women voters and minority communities.

The convention won’t just be a family affair, however. Trump has publicly talked about calling upon his celebrity friends to join him at the convention, and Bloomberg reported this week that he’s looking to roll out a line of high-profile athletes as well, including retired boxer Mike Tyson and NASCAR CEO Brian France, though Trump has denied Tyson was invited to speak.

“It's not gonna be a hohum lineup of the typical politicians," Ivanka Trump said Wednesday in a radio interview. “It’s gonna be a great combination of our great politicians, but also great American businessmen and women, and leaders across industry and leaders across really all the sectors, from athletes to coaches and everything in between."

(The eschewing of such “typical politicians” appears to be less than entirely a matter of choice, as a host of prominent Republicans have said they’re not interested in a speaking role.)

But perhaps the more important moments will come when Trump and his team show the Trump behind all the glitz and glam.

Families are often trotted out during conventions. Bio videos feature interviews with candidates’ wives, children and former colleagues telling stories from the past that showed the their characters. In 2012, a video featured Mitt Romney speaking wistfully about his wife and showed home videos and interviews with his children about everyday life. In one moment, one of Romney’s sons shows how his father saved money by using an ill-fitting light bulb on the family stove, solving the problem of it sticking out too far with a piece of tinfoil and some tape.

Such moments, though overshadowed by a widely panned Clint Eastwood speech to an invisible, fictional President Barack Obama, were seen as high moments of the convention that reshaped Romney’s image for the better at a time when the Obama campaign was painting him as a ruthless business tycoon.

Trump also brings a level of show business experience to the campaign that few other presidential candidates have, and he’s expected to lean on his connections in the television and entertainment worlds for help produce the broadcast. Rumors have been swirling that Mark Burnett, president of MGM Television and Digital Group and producer of some of the best-known reality shows, including “The Apprentice,” which significantly helped increase Trump's name recognition, have been helping Trump.

But Burnett’s representatives adamantly denied rumors of his involvement multiple times over several weeks, saying he is not involved informally or formally with the convention. Convention spokespeople also declined to comment on the speculation, emphasizing that the convention is being produced by Phil Alongi, who spent decades with NBC News and also produced the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Scott Dunlop, creator and producer of the “Real Housewives” reality-series franchise, which documents groups of wealthy women in cities like Los Angeles, New York and Washington, said if he were helping Trump produce the convention, he’d straddle the line between Trump’s brand of celebrity and showing a side of Trump no one knows about.

“Whether you love or hate him you can’t ignore what he’s done. So you have to harness it and it be honest with it if you’re going to do some kind of entertainment component,” Dunlop said. “If I was Trump or the RNC I would try to make it as entertaining as possible. Let him be who he is, but also show some of the unfiltered, softer side, bring in some celebrities, have some fun with that in Trump’s way, if he can do that probably better than Mrs. Clinton."

Dunlop suggested “a docu-series with him at home walking around in shorts and taking out the trash, where he’s not going to be staged or presumptive in a certain way.” He noted, however, that that side of Trump may not exist.

“It’s the Trump we don’t know. I’m interested in that,” Dunlop said.

Eli Stokols contributed to this report.