Melania Trump made her first public appearance in a while alongside her husband, Donald Trump, days ago at Mar-a-Lago. The former first lady said goodbye to her mother, Amalia Knavs, during the funeral in Palm Beach some weeks ago. But even though she’s been told to be supporting Donald’s presidential campaign, she has not been at his side.
While Melania most likely is together with and supporting her son, Barron, in Palm Beach, Donald Trump has made headlines with some somewhat controversial outbursts against his Republican presidential opponent, Nikki Haley, not least by mocking her husband, who is serving in the U.S. military.
The aftermath has left Melania Trump firmly in the spotlight.
Melania Trump has had a tough year. In 2023, her husband, Donald Trump, had several criminal charges and cases brought against him, both regarding actions when he was President of the United States and other civil cases.
Melania Trump not present at Donald Trump’s campaign rallies
While Donald Trump has claimed his innocence, lashing out against both the judicial system and judges, Melania has not been present at any hearings or when he’s been indicted. Instead, the former first lady has stayed at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, spending time with their son, Barron Trump.
All in all, she is said to focus on shielding Barron from the media coverage his father is getting and supporting him during his last number of months before graduating from Oxbridge Academy.
“The family was very involved in the past two campaigns for president, so I’d think they would be involved again. From a distance, it seems that Melania became less enthusiastic about this role as the controversies and the scandals mounted, so I don’t know how involved she’ll want to be this time around,” political expert Grant Reeher told the Mirror in January. “And she may be keen to guard Barron from becoming too exposed. Once you draw on your family, they become fair game for the media and opposition research.”
Reeher added, “His other adult children and in-laws were very keen to be involved in both his campaigns and his White House administration, and I see no reason why they wouldn’t want to do that again.”
Melania Trump has kept a low profile and stayed out of the spotlight. She’s only been seen in public a few times, and when the Trump family took their annual Christmas photo, she was not present.
Melania Trump looked ‘distraught’ at mother’s funeral, body language expert says
It turned out that her mother, Amalija Knavs, was very ill, and just days later, Melania confirmed she had passed away. The funeral was held in Palm Beach, at which the former first lady held an emotional eulogy about her mother, saying that Amalija’s “nurturing spirit had no limits, creating a legacy that will last for generations.”
Meanwhile, body language expert Judi James claimed Melania looked ‘distraught’ when exiting the church.
“The lack of touch here could be deliberate. When someone has to mourn in public, it is common to worry that acts or comfort, support, and affection can make them lose their composure completely, and that might be Melania’s concern that she needs to stay in control of her emotions at this very public moment for the ex-FLOTUS,” she said.
Few know what Melania Trump has been up to since she, Barron, and Donald left the White House in 2020.
Last year, Laurence Leamer, author of the 2019 book Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace, said that she “rarely” exits Mar-a-Lago and that people wonder what is happening.
“It’s a strange, isolated life they have in that place,” Leamer told the Daily Telegraph. “Nobody knows where she is. It’s like a mystery. It’s certainly talked about.”
Donald Trump’s attack on GOP opponent brought Melania into the spotlight
As mentioned, Melania Trump has not been at her husband’s side as he is now in the race to become president again. He won both the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Republican primary, and now, everything points toward him or Nikki Hailey becoming the Republican presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
But even though Melania isn’t there, she has become the center of a wild feud, which began with Donald Trump mocking his political opponent’s husband.
During a rally on Saturday in South Carolina, Donald Trump told a story about Haley previously meeting him at Mar-a-Lago. He attacked Haley for the absence of her husband, Michael, who is deployed overseas.
“Then she comes over to see me at Mar-a-Lago. ‘Sir, I will never run against you.’ She brought her husband. Where’s your husband? Oh, he’s away. He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone! He knew. He knew,” Trump said.
The attack topped news sites nationwide, and it didn’t take long for Haley to respond. At a Gilbert, South Carolina rally, she said she was proud of her husband’s service.
According to CNN, he is deployed in Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard to support the United States Africa Command, his second active-duty deployment overseas.
“I am proud of Michael’s service. Every military spouse knows it’s a family sacrifice. … If you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don’t deserve a driver’s license, let alone being president of the United States,” Haley said.
“Where’s Melania?”
On Monday, when appearing on The Lead with Jake Tapper, Haley called Donald Trum’s comments “disgusting” and “awful.
“If you don’t respect our military, how should we think you’re going to respect them when it comes to times of war, and prevent war and keep them from going?” Haley said. “If you don’t have respect for our military and our veterans, God help us all if that’s the case.”
Although Donald Trump initially attacked Haley and her husband, it took a rapid turn not long after. Then, Melania Trump became the person of interest, as people online began asking, “Where’s Melania?” The hashtag “Where’s Melania” even began to trend.
As reported by Blast, per Yahoo, users on X (previously Twitter) many wondered where the former first lady is amid the growing speculations of her whereabouts.
“Why is Trump asking about Nikki Haley’s husband? Where’s Melania?” one individual wrote,”
“Where’s Melania? Do we need the police for a welfare check? Look what he did to the first wife,” another commented.
Meanwhile, the political activist and Trump supporter Laura Loomer quickly rushed to Trump’s defense.
“For all of the “Where’s Melania” haters, I found her. She’s at her house at Mar a Lago looking hot with her husband, who just gave a speech at the Trumpettes event. She looks amazing, too. A supportive wife supporting her superstar husband who crushed it today in SC!” she wrote on X.
Melania Trump makes rare public appearance
And yes, Laura Loomer was correct. Just days ago, Melania Trump appeared at her first public event since her mother’s funeral as she and her husband arrived at a gala, which was hosted by one of Donald Trump’s fan clubs, The Trumpettes, at Mar-a-Lago.
Although Melania has avoided public appearances, she resurfaced wearing a black outfit at the gala. She entered the ballroom before her husband and was greeted by fans. Per reports, around 1000 people were attending the venue. Tickets to the gala were between $850 and $2500.
Before addressing the crowd of supporters at the event, Trump introduced his wife by saying, “First of all, our great first lady.” This was met with a loud cheer from the attendees, who had probably been anticipating Melania’s return to the campaign trail.
“First of all, our great first lady,” Donald Trump said in a speech shortly after, with the crowd cheering.
While official photographers will capture celebrities in the most surprising places, media will only be present if invited to a place like Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, today, there are other ways of seeing pictures from closed events: through Instagram or other social media.
That happened in early February, and it involved Melania Trump. However, shortly after, a rather cruel claim about the picture being altered – or even fake – began spreading.
Picture of Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago sparks ‘Photoshop’ conspiracy
On social media, Israeli model Noy Tawil posted a picture where she posed with Donald and Melania Trump at the couple’s Palm Beach estate. However, when fans zoomed in, some claimed it was a fake photo.
As per OK!, one person wrote, “Looks photoshopped,” while another said, “Photoshopped, and she looks like she’s miserable.”
A third person said it was an old picture and that she “won’t even sit beside him in a car.”
A fourth person commented, “Melania despises him! I wonder how much money she gets or will get to stay by his side? I hope at least she is educating Barron to NOT be like his father.”
The rather cruel comments about the photo not being real were all over social media. But at the same time, many came to her defense.
Amid the Photoshop claims, several people defended Melania, noting that she had just buried her mother and had probably been grieving her loss.
“Her mother just died. Before that, she was taking care of her mother, who was dying from cancer. She is grieving. Let her be in peace,” one user wrote on X.
Another added, “No one is photoshopping anything except for you. Imagine having so much hate that you would stoop to this level of dishonesty.”
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