WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After Melania Trump missed major events at her husband’s presidential bid earlier this year, from the start of Iowa’s 2024 election to Donald Trump’s Super Tuesday victory party, reporters asked the former first lady if she planned to join the campaign. Her reply was, “Be careful.”
But Melania Trump has rarely been seen in public since making those comments in March, when she voted with Donald Trump in the Florida primary. A few exceptions included two fundraising events in April and my son’s high school graduation.
The former first lady was conspicuously absent during the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s more than month-long hush trial in New York. She wasn’t there for her conviction last month, and the next day she wasn’t there for her speech at Trump Tower. She also did not appear at her 78th birthday party hosted by Trump’s fan club on June 14 or at any campaign rallies Trump has held in recent months.
Catherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who studies first ladies, said her absence during the trial and other key moments was unusual. But Jellison said this wouldn’t be surprising since Melania Trump seems reluctant to follow her politician wife’s traditional public role. As first lady, she also kept a low profile and did not regularly attend the 2020 presidential campaign, which her husband lost.
“But everything the Trumps do seems to go against the standard playbook for how candidates and their spouses should behave,” Jellison said.
Melania Trump’s behavior differs from the way other politicians have relied on their spouses. Sometimes male politicians turn to their wives to reach out to female voters. Candidates may also engage with their spouses as a way to provide voters with a greater understanding of who the candidate is outside of the political arena.
For example, during this year’s Republican primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, traveled with him, did interviews, and spoke to the Mamas before DeSantis suspended his nomination bid. ) formed a coalition. Vivek Ramaswamy’s wife, Dr. Apoorva Ramaswamy also took part in the campaign, often appearing with his two young children and speaking about the importance of family.
The Associated Press recently contacted 15 people who participated in major fundraisers or were at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. No one said they met Melania Trump at her Florida property.
Her office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Her only public statement recently came two days after the Florida Republican Party announced that her son Barron Trump, 18, had been selected as a state delegate to the Republican National Convention, where her office said he would not be able to attend due to prior commitments.
During Trump’s felony trial, reporters at the New York courthouse repeatedly asked him, “Where’s Melania?” But he didn’t answer. Trump allies cited her son’s school schedule as the main reason for her absence, but did not deny that it was a sensitive time for her family.
Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, was asked if there was any talk of him accompanying him to court.
“That wasn’t a discussion I wanted to have,” Blanche responded while speaking with Miami trial attorney David Oscar Markus on the “For The Defense” podcast. “This was a difficult case because of the nature of the allegations, the evidence presented, the history, and the time period.”
Part of the testimony aired in which Melania Trump claimed he had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels in July 2006, about four months after giving birth to Barron. Trump denied Daniels’ claims. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, said she believed the story of their meeting was as much about how Trump was harming his marriage as he was about damaging his 2016 presidential ambitions. She testified that she didn’t seem to care what the impact would be.
But Hope Hicks, Trump’s 2016 campaign communications director, said Trump was worried about how a 2016 article involving Playboy model Karen MacDougal would appear to his wife, and that she had the newspaper delivered to their home. He testified that he wanted to prevent this from happening.
Melania Trump hasn’t posted anything on her social media accounts since her husband was convicted of 34 felonies. This is in contrast to Trump’s older sons, who quickly criticized her ruling. Her daughter Ivanka Trump posted a photo of her as a child with Trump on her own Instagram, along with the message, “I love you dad.” His second daughter, Tiffany Trump, followed him to court last month for closing arguments in the trial.
“I think it’s very difficult for her,” Trump said of his wife in an interview with Fox News after the verdict. “I mean, she’s fine. But you know, she has to read all this crap.”
Despite her absence from the campaign trail, Trump often mentions her, shares conversations between the two and provides feedback to the former president, showing his supporters that she is still involved behind the scenes.
Larry Snowden, president of the Club 47 fan club, said he last saw the former first lady in February at a gala event hosted by the Trumpets, a female supporters’ group. He never interacted with her one-on-one, but said she was “so attractive” when he saw her there.
“She was very happy and would smile and accept anyone who wanted to come up and shake her hand,” Snowden said.
Snowden said he expects Melania Trump to appear and give major speeches throughout the campaign, but that he thinks the former president will “continue to be very protective of her.”
___
Gomez Licon reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
