Melania makes first public appearance in almost a month
The first lady’s absence after surgery sparked speculation online
WASHINGTON— Melania Trump’s disappearing act is over.
The first lady showed herself in public Wednesday for the first time in nearly a month, seated alongside her husband, U.S. President Donald Trump, for a briefing on the federal government’s preparedness for the hurricane season that began June 1.
The first sighting of the first lady came as she and the president strolled down the walkway from the Oval Office and climbed into “the Beast,” his idling limousine.
It was her first appearance away from the White House since she and the president travelled to Joint Base Andrews to welcome home three Americans who had been released from detention in North Korea.
Several days later, the first lady underwent a procedure to treat a kidney condition. She spent five days in the hospital before returning to the White House on May 19 to continue her recuperation.
But speculation mounted as week after week passed without a public appearance, spawning wild theories about where she might be and what might have happened to her. The first lady addressed the issue on Twitter last week, saying: “I see 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 was less charitable. “The Fake News Media has been so unfair, and vicious, to my wife and our great First Lady, Melania,” he wrote on Twitter. “During her recovery from surgery they reported everything from near death, to facelift, to left the W.H. (and me) for N.Y. or Virginia, to abuse. All Fake.”