After 24 days without being seen in public, first lady Melania Trump will be attending a White House event honouring Gold Star families on on Monday night.
The last time the first lady participated in an official event was 10th May, when she accompanied President Donald Trump to Andrews Air Force Base. There, the couple greeted three newly-released American prisoners who were returning to the United States following captivity in North Korea.
On 14th May the White House announced she had been admitted to the the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. According to her spokesperson Stephanie Grisham, Melania was undergoing a benign kidney procedure. On 19th May President Trump announced his wife was back in the White House, after being hospitalised for five nights.
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Since then, there's been no sight of Melania. She skipped public events such as the U.S. Naval Academy graduation ceremony and Memorial Day's annual wreath-laying at the Arlington National Cemetery. She also didn't join her husband and his children Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Tiffany at Camp David this past weekend.
Her absence has created lots of speculation and has given way to conspiracy theories that range from plastic surgery, a move back to New York City, a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, and even concealing domestic abuse.
Grisham dispelled the rumours on 29th May, telling Politico: “Sadly, we deal with conspiracy theories all the time, so this is nothing new, just more silly nonsense. She is doing great. I wouldn’t characterise it as a long absence. She was hospitalised for almost a week and is now home and recovering.”
On Wednesday, the first lady or someone on her behalf posted a tweet addressing the rumours: "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!"
The language, suspiciously similar to the vernacular used by President Trump, did little to quash the wild conspiracy theories surrounding the first lady's lack of public sightings.
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
Despite Melania's planned attendance at Monday's reception, she will skip the G7 summit this year and her husband's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on 12th June.