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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
