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Melania Trump: the curious case of the disappearing first lady
Rumours flying over why she hasn’t been seen in public for a month
Melania Trump has not been seen in public since the World Cup final on 19 July. Over the past 30 days, the first lady has skipped a series of high-profile events attended by her husband, including Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. So what is going on?
‘Even lower profile’
At this point in her husband’s second presidential term, Melania has only managed half the number of public appearances she’d clocked up at the same point in his first term, an NBC News analysis shows. She’s “only made 38 public appearances this year”, said The Guardian. And now “she’s been MIA for about a month”.
Her public schedule “nearly vanished” over the summer, said the Daily Beast, dropping to just five public appearances in June and July, “two of which were sporting events”. Melania is “dramatically less active” than other 21st-century first ladies: her 29 speeches since her husband returned to office last year pale in comparison to the 130 Michelle Obama gave over a similar period.
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“To be fair,” this isn’t completely “out of character”, said The Guardian. During Donald Trump’s first term, his wife’s “frequent absences sparked various conspiracy theories, including one that she had a body double”. But, this time round, she seems to be “keeping an even lower profile”. Those who think Melania “work-shy” can’t accuse her of being “camera-shy”, though: she starred in a glossy eponymous documentary in January, and a “companion docuseries” is scheduled for release on Amazon Prime this autumn.
Aide ‘speculation’
In Melania’s absence, Trump aide Natalie Harp “has seldom strayed far from the president’s side”, said The Independent. The 35-year-old former One America News Network presenter joined Trump’s staff in 2022 and “reportedly helps manage the president’s Truth Social account”. White House colleagues apparently call her “the human printer” for continuously supplying him with printouts of positive news material. In May, Harp accompanied the president on his state visit to China – “a trip Melania Trump did not attend”.
Harp has written the president “adoring letters”, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan said in their book, “Regime Change”. In one, she wrote: “You are all that matters to me”; in another, she called the president her “Guardian and Protector in this life”.
The “speculation” about Trump’s relationship with Harp “upsets his wife”, said The Telegraph: the president’s “perceived closeness” to his aide is fuelling “unfounded rumours that the pair are having an affair”. There was “furious backlash” this week when Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff said the president “doesn’t want to do his job” and would rather “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie”. A White House spokesman shot back that Harp is “one of the most loyal and hardest working aides on President Trump’s team… Nobody gives a shit what this lightweight loser says.”
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Work ‘behind the scenes’
The first lady “prioritises results over appearances”, Melania’s senior adviser told NBC News. On Monday, the White House announced that the first lady had “facilitated the reunification of another child with her family” after “being separated” during the Russian war with Ukraine. “There is nothing more powerful than reuniting a mother with her child after an extended period of time”, Melania was quoted as saying. She is now “focused” on her “next reunification” effort.
“This is a first lady who isn’t troubled by what her critics think,” said NBC’s White House correspondent Monica Alba. Some domestic and overseas travel has been “scaled down” but officials say “that’s because she’s doing a lot of work behind the scenes”. Melania is scheduled to attend a few high-profile events in coming weeks, including September’s UN General Assembly in New York.
Irenie Forshaw is the features editor at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
