Donald, Melania personally voted. Barron did it?

Who is running for president in the 2024 election? It’s former President Donald Trump against Vice President Kamala Harris.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Former President Donald Trump voted on election day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on Seaview Avenue in Palm Beach.

He was joined by his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump.

Their son, Barron Trump, was not seen with them at the polling placeand it is not clear where he voted. An email to the Trump campaign for comment was not returned as of Tuesday afternoon.

Trump is running as a Republican for a second term in the White House with his running mate, US Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, against Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Speaking for more than 10 minutes to members of the media gathered in the Recreation Center gymnasium, Trump said he felt this was the best of his three campaigns for president.

“I think we’re going to have a really big win today,” he said.

The No. 1 issue for voters, Trump said, was immigration.

“We want people to come to our country, but they have to come legally,” he said. “We want strong borders.”

Asked if he would discourage violence from his supporters, Trump dismissed the question.

“My supporters are not violent people. I don’t have to tell them that,” he said, adding, “I certainly don’t want violence, but certainly — these are great people. These are people who do not believe in violence. Contrary to your question, you believe in violence,” he told the reporter.

Trump said he and Melania Trump would stop by his campaign offices in West Palm Beach to thank workers there before returning to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump said he had not yet written a speech for Tuesday night, noting that he had given several speeches over the past two days as he packed last-minute rallies into his campaign finale schedule.

“I’ve been giving a lot of speeches. You can probably tell,” he said, referring to the hoarseness in his voice. “I’m not a Democrat. I can give a speech pretty quickly. If I win, I know what I’m going to say. And I don’t even want to think about the losing side.”

Trump reminded Republicans who might be in line to vote to stay in line.

On Tuesday morning, security around the Recreation Center was tight, with a public parking lot on Royal Palm Way closed ahead of Trump’s arrival and a line of white tents forming a tunnel from that parking lot to the south entrance of the headquarters. voting.

City officials said in a Recreation Department email Friday that parking will be limited Monday to the municipal parking lot on the north side of Royal Palm Way near Seaview Park near the Recreation Center, and that the parking lot will be completely closed Tuesday until mid-afternoon.

It was unclear in the days leading up to Election Day exactly when Trump and his family would vote, so members of the media gathered outside the Recreation Center early Tuesday to try to catch a glimpse of the Republican presidential nominee. Media representatives included those from India, Portugal, Germany, Denmark and Japan.

While Trump was inside the Recreation Center, the media kept cameras trained on the center’s north entrance.

Many of Trump’s supporters, who had gathered and waited for hours Tuesday morning waiting to see the candidate, lined the sidewalk. Some stood on a wall outside Palm Beach Public Elementary School, while others waited near the Recreation Center’s tennis courts. Some tennis players stopped their games for more than an hour as they waited for Trump to appear.

Trump did not come out to wave and speak to the media as he has in years past. Instead, he was quickly taken from the caravan to the Recreation Center via the south entrance on Royal Palm Way, on the opposite side of the polling station from where hundreds had gathered. The Trumps then left through the south entrance after speaking with reporters in the gym. Some on the north lawn of the Recreation Center saw Trump’s silhouette through a window.

Voters scheduled to vote Tuesday were able to enter through the north side of the Recreation Center. A trio of parking spaces on Seaview Avenue have been marked with signs and traffic barricades as 30-minute spots for voters only.

Many of the other spaces along the Seaview were occupied by the media.

The Trumps planned to wait at Mar-a-Lago until around 10 p.m. Tuesday before heading to the Trump campaign’s election night vigil at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [email protected]. Subscribe today to support our journalism.