Where Is Melania Trump? Former Aide Explains Her Absence

Melania Trump was notably absent when Donald Trump celebrated his Super Tuesday wins at his Florida property and now, her former aide has explained why.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump and rival Nikki Haley faced off in 15 states and one U.S. territory's primary contests to mark Super Tuesday on March 5, where the former president won nearly every race.

Following his sweeping win, Donald Trump took the stage at his watch party inside Mar-a-Lago to make a speech before his supporters. Many expected Melania Trump to be in attendance but when she wasn't, people online continued to speculate over her lack of public appearances—and now, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has said why the former first lady wasn't at Tuesday's celebrations.

Newsweek contacted Winston Wolkoff via X (formerly Twitter) and spokespeople for Melania and Donald Trump via email for comment.

Winston Wolkoff, formerly an aide and close confidant of Melania Trump, posted her thoughts to X late on Wednesday night.

"WARNING Melania Trump was NOT at Donald's victory party because she did NOT have to be. His supporters do NOT care if she is by his side or NOT, so now she does NOT have to be. NOThing more, NOThing less," she wrote.

Winston Wilkoff's comment comes as Melania Trump has been largely absent from her husband's presidential campaign events, declining to make public appearances or comments about the election. Her presence has been scaled back, in contrast to the 2016 presidential campaign, when she took an active role.

Critics have questioned why she has appeared to remove herself from public life. During his town hall in South Carolina in February, Donald Trump was asked if his wife would be active on the campaign trail, much like current first lady Jill Biden has been for her husband President Joe Biden.

Donald Trump went on to explain that much of his wife's attention is devoted to their 17-year-old son, Barron Trump.

"Her life revolves around that boy, [he's] so important to her," the former star of The Apprentice said. "At the same time, it also revolves around our country and the success of our country. She's raised a lot of money for charity."

He continued: "She's a private person. It's funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She's going to be out a lot, not because she likes doing it, but she likes the result. She wants to see this country really succeed.

"[The people] love the fact that she's not out there so much. You know, a lot of first ladies will go out. They want to be everywhere. They get angry at their husband because he's not introducing them. If I didn't introduce Melania she'd be very happy about it. She's just a different kind of a person. And she loves the country.

"She's gonna be out quite a bit and she loves his country and she wants a great and she says hello."

Winston Wilkoff was Melania Trump's first hire after Donald Trump's 2016 election victory and is no stranger to sharing her thoughts on the couple. However, their friendship ended following reports that Winston Wolkoff benefited handsomely as a contractor for the 2017 inauguration.

In February 2018, Melania Trump cut ties with Winston Wolkoff after news broke that her event planning company, WIS Media Partners, received $26 million to help coordinate Donald Trump's inauguration.

In Winston Wolkoff's 2020 book Melania and Me, she said she resigned because the Trump administration scapegoated her. She has also denied claims that she received $26 million.

"Melania and Donald Trump weaponized the DOJ against me by having Jeffrey Clark sue me to try and silence me so the truth and the facts about this, them, and so much more wouldn't be shared with the American people," the former aide previously told Newsweek.