Melania is no-show on flying trips to G7 and Kim summits
MELANIA Trump will not accompany her husband to the G7 summit in Canada or the Singapore meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The announcement by the White House came more than three weeks since Ms Trump attended a public event, and followed her hospitalisation for a kidney procedure.
President Donald Trump will travel to Quebec for the G7, an event where world leaders are often accompanied by their spouses, on Friday and Saturday.
He will then fly on to Singapore ahead of his historic planned talk with Mr Kim on June 12. It is unclear whether Mr Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, will attend.
Stephanie Grisham, the US first lady’s spokeswoman, said: “She will not attend the G7 and there are no plans for her to travel to Singapore.”
Ms Trump was expected to attend her first public engagement since leaving hospital last night.
The event was a reception at the White House for families of service members killed in the line of duty, but was closed to the media.
Ms Trump’s last public appearance was on May 10 when she accompanied her husband to Andrews Air Force Base to welcome home three Americans who had been held prisoner in North Korea.
On May 14 she was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Maryland for the kidney procedure.
Ms Trump underwent an embolisation, which is most frequently used to cut off the flow of blood to a tumour or growth.
The White House has given few details of the condition but has said it was “benign”. She returned to the White House on May 19.
Last week Ms Trump sought to quell speculation about her health.
She tweeted: “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!”
And a journalist for CNBC announced on Twitter last week: “Not that this will deter the conspiracy theorists, but I saw the First Lady walking with her aides in the West Wing yesterday afternoon.”
Ms Trump’s spokeswoman said that she has been having meetings with her staff and making plans for future White House events, including the annual Congressional Picnic later this month and July 4 celebrations.