Trump Teases a Gettysburg Convention Speech. Experts Say It’s an Ethics Breach. – The New York Times

Mr. Trump on Monday appeared to be unbothered by any legal issues with holding a convention event on federal property. In fact, he listed Gettysburg’s status as a national park as part of its appeal.

“It’s a national historic site,” he told reporters at a news conference. “It’s incredible. It’s the history, it’s incredible, actually, to me. And it was very important place and is a very important place in our country.”

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said Monday that convention events would be “planned and executed” by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, and that “any government employees who may participate will do so in compliance with the Hatch Act.”

There have been past occasions when presidents used federal property for campaign purposes. President Barack Obama filmed two campaign videos in 2012 from his chief of staff’s office in the West Wing, for instance.

But Mr. Trump’s critics said using federal property as the backdrop for what will be one of the president’s peak political moments would amount to a more serious violation of the often hazy line between candidate and public servant. The New York Times reported last week that a Trump speech at Gettysburg was under discussion.

Plans for the Democratic National Convention next week came into focus on Monday, as three party officials with knowledge of the schedule said that Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 nominee, would deliver a prime-time speech on Wednesday.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has said he will not travel to Milwaukee, where the convention is nominally being held but has been scaled back to just a few hundred attendees. He will accept his party’s nomination from his home state, Delaware, on the convention’s final night on Thursday, in a form and fashion yet to be announced.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will join Mrs. Clinton on the Wednesday program if she is not selected as Mr. Biden’s running mate, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the convention plans. Former President Bill Clinton will speak as well, one of the officials said.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, a Republican who is a harsh critic of President Trump, will deliver addresses Monday night, the officials said.

Mr. Obama’s time slot has not yet been announced, but he may be included on a crammed Wednesday night program, or possibly introduce Mr. Biden on Thursday before the former vice president’s acceptance speech.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a rising star of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, is also set to deliver a brief speech, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation.

Glenn Thrush contributed reporting.