Was Melania A No-Show At Trump's Mar-A-Lago Christmas Festivities?

While former President Donald Trump has been in the spotlight lately thanks to both his legal troubles and his current run for the White House, his wife, Melania Trump, has been making headlines for a different reason: her conspicuous absence from public life.

Laurence Leamer, author of a book on Mar-a-Lago called "Mar-A-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace," has said that while the former first lady was once regularly seen out and about at the famous Florida club, she has been nowhere to be found lately (via The Telegraph). "Nobody knows where she is. It's like a mystery. It's certainly talked about," said Leamer. 

Even at major events where people would have expected to see Melania, she has been missing in action. For instance, in the Spring of 2023, when Donald Trump gave a speech at Mar-a-Lago in the face of breaking news about his multiple criminal indictments, Melania was neither present nor mentioned in the speech (via The Palm Beach Post). And while Mrs. Trump was spotted at the Mar-a-Lago Halloween bash this past October, she appears to have been absent from a much more significant holiday gathering: the Christmas celebrations at her Florida home.   

While, as of yet, there is no official report saying Melania Trump was not at the Mar-a-Lago Christmas celebration that her husband, Donald Trump, attended, it appears, based on images and video taken at the event, that she was not there. For instance, Ron Filipkowski shared a brief video clip via X, formerly Twitter, in which the former president can be seen enjoying a holiday dinner, but the people seated beside him and at his table do not include his wife.

If Mrs. Trump was indeed absent from yet another highly visible Mar-a-Lago event, it would just serve to prove what author Laurence Leamer has claimed, which is that many club members and residents of Mar-a-Lago have been confused and concerned by how infrequently the former first lady is seen (per The Telegraph). And while Leamer has been banned from Mar-a-Lago due to his reporting, his story would appear to hold up simply based on other places Melania has not been seen. 

The former first lady has been conspicuously absent from both the campaign trail and the courtroom as her husband runs for the Oval Office and battles criminal charges, so if she was not, in fact, at the Mar-a-Lago Christmas party, it would hardly be a surprise.