Melania Trump backs out of accompanying Trump to the World Economic Forum

Melania Trump will no longer be joining her husband in Davos, Switzerland.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

published 23 January 2018

First Lady Melania Trump has backed out of plans to accompany her husband to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he is scheduled to speak on Friday, CNN reports. East Wing communications director Stephanie Grisham said the decision was made due to "scheduling and logistical issues," although the first lady's absence is nevertheless raising eyebrows as it follows reports that President Trump's lawyer supposedly paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

The Trumps did spend the long weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day together in Mar-a-Lago, although Melania Trump was absent from dinners hosted by the president, The Independent reports. Trump's own trip across the Atlantic had been delayed due to the government shutdown, although White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Monday that the U.S. delegation "will leave tomorrow" for Davos, with Trump himself following "later in the week."

A recent poll by The Economist/YouGov found that 48 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Melania Trump, making her the most-liked member of the president's family.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.