Trump Lawyer's Explanation For Melania's Hush Money Trial Absence Doesn't Add Up

After a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts, one of Donald Trump's hush money lawyers, Todd Blanche, was interviewed by David Oscar Markus, a Miami trial attorney, for Markus' podcast "For the Defense." Blanche was asked about Melania's absence from his criminal trial, which didn't help the rumblings about their marriage. Blanche talked about why Melania wasn't there, with Barron Trump seeming to be an excuse. "Obviously their son was finishing school in Florida," he explained, via YouTube. He went on to say, "I don't think the lack of presence should be interpreted as a lack of love and support."

The timing, though, seems a little bit too suspect for that excuse to be true — if Melania couldn't come to New York for the criminal trial because Barron was in his last days of high school back in Florida, what about after he graduated? Barron's high school graduation, where Donald and Melania did share a rare moment of affection, was on May 17. The trial continued for nearly another two weeks after that — the guilty verdict came in on May 30. That seems like it would have left plenty of time for Melania to come to New York. And while the Trump family has relocated to Florida, they still have their New York apartment. It would have made an easy home base for Melania to attend her husband's trial.

If you were following Donald Trump's hush money trial, you know that there were concerns that Donald might have to miss Barron Trump's high school graduation because of it. The judge confirmed near the outset of the trial that, depending on how things went timing-wise, there was a possibility that Donald might not be able to go. Donald then posted on Truth Social and talked about how the judge was going to prevent him from going. However, since things did go smoothly, the trial took the day off for Donald to go to Barron's graduation, after which,  Donald held a campaign rally in Minnesota.

Some people online joked about what Melania Trump was doing that prevented her from going to her husband's trial. One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "I think she had a pedicure appointment." Others thought it showed that Melania was unhappy about the whole situation — much of the trial did revolve around Donald's alleged affairs.

Melania has kept quiet about the trial, though on an episode of "Fox & Friends Weekend," Donald talked about how his wife was reacting to the trial and the verdict. "She's fine," Donald said, "But I think it's very hard for her [...] she has to read all this crap." Donald faces additional criminal trials, so Melania may still have a chance to have her day in court, as it were.