Melania appears for first time in weeks
WASHINGTON • There she was, outside the White House walls.
First lady Melania Trump re-emerged Wednesday shoulder-to-shoulder with her husband, President Donald Trump, at the head of a conference table at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington.
“She had a little rough patch, but she’s doing great,” the president said at the top of a meeting on hurricane readiness. “We’re very proud of her, she’s done a fantastic job as first lady,” he added. “People love you. The people of our country love you. Thank you, honey.”
The appearance was her first outside the White House since May 10. In the interim, Melania Trump underwent a kidney procedure and recuperated in the hospital for five days, according to the White House. But there was no explanation of why she remained out of the public eye for weeks longer.
With few updates about her condition, speculation on social media became rampant.
The first lady addressed the theories herself, tweeting on May 30 that “the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I’m doing. Rest assured, I’m here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!”
Her husband complained earlier Wednesday that the speculation in the press has been “so unfair, and vicious.”
Trump tweeted Wednesday that during his wife’s recovery, “they reported everything from near death, to facelift, to left the W.H. (and me) for N.Y. or Virginia, to abuse.”
He added: “All Fake, she is doing really well!”
On Monday, the first lady strolled into a White House event for military families and swept away the wild speculation that she was incapacitated or had otherwise vanished.
The White House did not allow journalists to cover the Gold Star event out of respect for the families, which meant Melania Trump was seen in person only by the 40 or so families and administration officials who attended. Others had to keep an eye on social media.
Video posted on Twitter showed the first lady, who wore a black sleeveless dress and her trademark stilettos, strolling into the East Room with the president.
Historians say no modern first lady has prized her privacy more than Melania Trump. But in a digital era where a polarized public tends to traffic in conspiracy theories, her absence has led to more than a little speculation about her whereabouts.