First lady Melania Trump appeared at her first official event at the White House on Monday since she underwent a procedure in May to deal with what her office described as a benign kidney condition.
The White House’s Gold Star families Memorial Day reception was closed to the press, but Daily Caller reporter Jena Greene appeared to be in attendance and shared a brief clip of the first lady and her husband President Trump walking into the room together.
First public appearance by @FLOTUS in just under a month at the Gold Star Families reception to ihht. Good to see her doing well. pic.twitter.com/p6pCB4UPbi
— Jena Greene (@JenaMGreene) June 4, 2018
Another attendee told CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny that President Trump referred to media speculation regarding his wife’s absence from the spotlight during his address to the crowd.
A person inside the room tells me Trump made a light-hearted joke about First Lady’s absence, saying the media was asking: “Where’s Melania?” He went on, laughing over speculation. “Did she leave him?” he asked at one point, before pointing out Mrs. Trump was in front row
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) June 4, 2018
“It was a privilege to welcome Gold Star Families to the White House today to recognize our Nation’s fallen heroes and their families. To all those who have lost loved ones in service to our country, our nation grieves with you,” Melania Trump said in statement Monday evening. “It is a solemn reminder that we, the American people, are able to live as freely as we do because of the selfless sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. We remain indebted to each of them and we honor them today, together, with their families.”
“Thank you to those who joined us this evening and to the men and women currently serving overseas and to their families, thank you for your service. We send our prayers to all of those in harms way, and may God bless the United States of America,” she added.
The first lady’s appearance follows her communications director Stephanie Grisham telling reporters on Sunday the first lady would not travel with President Trump to Canada on Friday for the G7 summit, despite attending last year’s meeting in Italy.
Grisham said Melania Trump also had “no plans” to fly to Singapore for her husband’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Prior to Monday’s reception, Melania Trump had not been seen in public since May 10 before she entered Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on May 14 for the kidney procedure.
Media reports went into overdrive regarding the cause of the first lady’s lack of public appearances, with Rolling Stone suggesting she was “concealing abuse” suffered at the hand of the president.
Melania Trump wrote on Twitter last Wednesday that the press was “working overtime speculating where I am & what I’m doing.”
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!
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) May 30, 2018
