Whether you love him or hate him, nobody can deny that Donald Trump has a magnetically charismatic personality. All eyes and cameras would focus on him even before he ran for president, and his time in the White House has only increased this public fascination. Generally speaking, everyone is so focused on Donald at any given time that they don’t notice the profound absence of Melania Trump.
Typically, support from one’s spouse is a mainstay of presidential success: for example, both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were always by their husband’s side during the campaign trail and for other big moments. Melania Trump, however, often seems to skip out on Donald’s public appearances.
Just which appearances did Melania miss, and what is the shocking reason for her absence? Keep reading to find out!
Melania missed most of Donald Trump’s 2020 election campaign
Melania Trump’s frequent absences from her husband’s side became most noticeable during Donald Trump’s failed 2020 re-election campaign. As CNN reports, she made an appearance at a Trump campaign event in late October 2020, almost right before election night; before that, her most recent appearance had been at one of her husband’s events in June 2019.
An insider closer to the matter told CNN that Donald Trump’s election team desperately wanted Melania’s public support and that she knew how much her appearances might have helped her husband. Despite being “wanted and needed,” the insider claims Melania “just…doesn’t do them.”
RELATED: Has Donald Trump Lost Melania’s Support At The Worst Possible Time?
She missed Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech after he was arrested
After Donald Trump failed to win reelection in 2020, things began to go downhill very fast. He began to get caught up in a number of legal issues, with the most explosive moment being when was arraigned on criminal charges. As the New York Post reports, he is the first president in history to face such charges, but that wasn’t the only shocking thing about the entire matter.
Trump fans and critics alike noticed that not only was Melania absent at Trump’s actual arraignment in New York, but she was also absent from the post-arrest speech he gave hours later back home at Mar-a-Lago. Considering who else was there (including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Tiffany Trump(, Melania’s absence raised a few eyebrows.
Did Donald Trump have to beg Melania to be seen with him?
One week after that Mar-a-Lago speech, Melania finally made a public appearance alongside Donald Trump. She appeared with Trump at Mar-a-Lago’s dining room for an Easter brunch, and that alone might make you think she had turned a new leaf on such appearances. Depending on who you talk to, though, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Page Six reports that behind closed doors, a source close to the couple claims that Donald Trump told his wife “‘I really need you for this because we are going to be campaigning.’” After that, “They had a major talk over the weekend, and she has … agreed to be on board.” That may be good news for Donald Trump’s campaign, but the fact that he had to beg his wife for help may be bad news for his marriage.
RELATED: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff DESTROYS Melania Trump With Latest Accusation
Donald Trump gives an evasive answer about Melania’s whereabouts
Certainly, all this speculation about Melania’s whereabouts may seem a bit tacky. However, it’s a fair question to ask where Melania is…certainly, if Michelle Obama had virtually stopped appearing anywhere near her husband, Trump himself would likely be speculating about what that might mean for the Obamas’ relationship. As for Melania’s absence, the fact that Donald Trump sometimes gives bizarre, seemingly off-the-cuff statements about her helps further fuel speculation.
For example, Newsweek reports that when Donald Trump was interviewed by Megyn Kelly and was asked where Melania was, he responded, “I think part of the beauty is that mystery,” which is a downright strange answer. Trump almost immediately followed this up by saying Melania “doesn’t need to be out there [to get interviewed].” For all the evasiveness, though, Trump gave another interview that seemed to definitively explain Melania’s frequent absences.
Where’s Melania? Donald Trump might just be protecting her
As we said, whether or not Melania Trump ditching her husband’s public appearances is a bad thing or not depends on who you talk to. Sources close to the Trumps have claimed that Melania bowing out of these appearances is a personal choice, and the fact that her presence could help her husband isn’t always a factor in her decisions. However, to hear Donald Trump tell the story, she is actually absent because he is hoping to protect her.
As the Daily Beast reports, Donald gave an interview to Meet the Press in which he said, “Honestly, I like to keep her away from it. It’s so nasty and so mean.” To be fair to Trump, he’s not wrong here: Melania has been the subject of intense press scrutiny for many years, and there are other reports that she has had to deal with some downright creepy fan interactions. By skipping out on public appearances as much as possible, Melania can protect herself from said creeps while also not giving the press any ammo to use against her.
RELATED: The Craziest Rumors About Donald Trump’s Marriage To Melania