WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – After melania trump missed key events in her husband’s presidential bid earlier this year – since the start of the 2024 election in Iowa for donald trumpin Super Tuesday victory party – reporters asked the former first lady if she planned to campaign. Her response: “Stay tuned.”
But since making that comment in March, after she and Donald Trump voted in the Florida primary, Melania Trump has largely refrained from public appearances. The few exceptions included a few fundraisers in April and her son’s high school graduation.
The former first lady noticeably did not accompany the presumptive Republican presidential nominee on any of the days of his more than month-long trial in New York. She wasn’t there last month for the Guilty verdict or the next day for his remarks at Trump Tower. She also did not appear on June 14 in a 78th birthday party organized for Trump by his fan club, or at any of the campaign rallies he has held in recent months.
Her absence during the trial and other important moments is unusual, said Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who studies first ladies. But Jellison said perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Melania Trump appears reluctant to pursue the traditional public role of a politician’s wife. As first lady, she also kept a low profile and was not a regular presence in her husband’s unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign.
“But everything the Trumps do seems to go against the standard playbook of behavior for candidates and spouses,” Jellison said.
Melania Trump’s behavior differs from the way other politicians have trusted their spouses. Sometimes male politicians turn to their wives to try to reach out to female voters. Candidates may also be accompanied by their spouses as a way to give voters a better sense of what the candidate is like outside of the political arena.
During this year’s Republican Party primaries, for example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, traveled with him, gave interviews and formed a coalition called Mamas for DeSantis before he suspended his bid for the nomination. Vivek Ramaswamy’s wife, Dr. Apoorva Ramaswamy, was also on the campaign trail, appearing frequently along with their two young children to talk about the importance of family.
The Associated Press contacted 15 people who were recently at large fundraisers or at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. None said they met Melania Trump at the Florida estate.
His office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. His only public statement recently came two days after the Florida Republican Party announced with fanfare that his 18-year-old son Barron Trump had been chosen as a state delegate to the Republican National Convention and his cabinet. said he couldn’tciting previous commitments.
Reporters in the New York courtroom during Trump’s trial repeatedly asked him, “Where is Melania?” but he never responded. Trump’s allies cited his son’s school calendar as the main reason for his absence, without denying that it was a delicate moment for the family.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, was asked if there were talks about her accompanying him to court.
“That was not a discussion I wanted to have,” Blanche responded, speaking with Miami defense attorney David Oscar Markus for his “For The Defense” podcast. “This was a difficult case because of the nature of the accusations, the evidence presented, the history, how much time had passed.”
Some of the testimony conveyed how Trump allegedly had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels in July 2006, about four months after Melania Trump gave birth to Barron; Trump denied Daniels’ allegation. Former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified that Trump didn’t seem to care that the story of a date he intended to bury would hurt his marriage as much as he cared that it would hurt his 2016 presidential aspirations. .
But Hope Hicks, head of communications for Trump’s 2016 campaign, testified that Trump was concerned in 2016 about how a story related to Playboy model Karen MacDougal would be viewed by his wife and wanted her to make sure the newspapers were not delivered to the your residence.
Melania Trump hasn’t posted anything on her social media accounts after her husband was convicted of 34 criminal charges. This contrasts with Trump’s eldest children, who quickly condemned the verdict. Daughter Ivanka Trump posted on Instagram a photo of herself as a child with a younger Trump and the message “I love you, dad.” Tiffany Trump, his youngest daughter, accompanied him to court last month for closing arguments in the trial.
“I think it’s very difficult for her,” Trump said of his wife, in an interview with Fox News after the verdict. But, you know, she has to read all this crap.”
Despite her absence from the campaign, Trump frequently mentions her and shares conversations between the two, showing supporters that she is still involved behind the scenes, offering feedback to the former president.
Larry Snowden, president of the “Club 47” fan group, said he last saw the former first lady at a February gala hosted by the “Trumpettes,” a group of female supporters. He said he never had a face-to-face interaction with her, but when he saw her there, she was “so charming.”
“She was so happy and would smile and accommodate anyone who wanted to come up and shake her hand or something,” Snowden said.
Snowden said he expects Melania Trump to show face during the campaign and give important speeches, but that he also thinks the former president would “continue to be very protective of her.”
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Gomez Licon reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
