Donald Trump Discusses Melania's Absence in New Year's Message

Donald Trump has confirmed his wife Melania Trump's absence from holiday celebrations was because she was staying with her sick mother.

The former president wished his mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs, a speedy recovery during a New Year's Eve speech at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence, but described the situation as "a very tough one."

It comes after the former First Lady was conspicuously absent from a Christmas photo posted by Kimberly Guilfoyle, fiancé of Donald Trump Jr., on Instagram showing much of the Trump family gathered at his Palm Beach resort.

Following the image's publication, a source close to Melania Trump told Fox News: "Melania has always been very devoted to her entire family. It should be no surprise that she spent this Christmas with her ailing mother."

Melania Trump's father, Viktor, and son with Donald Trump, Barron, were also pictured in the photo.

In footage of part of Trump's remarks during his New Year's Eve event recorded by one of the attendees, the former president noted that Melania Trump was absent from the celebration.

"Melania—great First Lady, so popular, the people love her—she's now in a hospital with her mother," he told partygoers at his annual bash. "Her mother, Amalija, is very ill, but hopefully she'll be recovering.

"But she's been very ill, so I just want to say 'hello' to the First Lady—we just spoke, down in Miami, great hospital—and hopefully they'll be ok, but it's a tough one, it's a very tough one. So she sends her love to everybody and she knows probably about 95 percent of the people here like I do. And we just want to wish Amalija that she gets better as quickly as possible."

Melania Trump has made few public appearances since her husband left office in 2021, and has not appeared alongside him on his 2024 campaign trail or at his various court appearances. Earlier in December, she gave a speech at a swearing-in ceremony at the National Archives, after appearing alongside other First Ladies at the funeral of Rosalynn Carter.

Having led a life largely out of the gaze of media scrutiny before Trump's foray into politics, those close to the former First Lady have intimated that since leaving the White House, she returned to relative seclusion, spending most of her time with Barron Trump.

When Trump first took office, she opted to remain in New York City with her son until the end of the school year.

Laurence Leamer, author of the 2019 book Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace, recently claimed that Melania Trump was rarely seen leaving the Florida residence and had a "strange, isolated life." A spokesperson for the couple has yet to comment on the remarks.

While Melania Trump has not joined her husband at rallies, she endorsed his candidacy in a May interview with Fox News, telling the broadcaster she looked forward to "restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength."

"We are going to have a great year. Our country has gone to hell and we're going to turn it around, we're going to turn it around pretty quickly," Trump said during his speech on Sunday. "We're going to have a great 2024, we're going to make America great again."