Melania Trump Video Goes Viral After Missing Rumors

Video footage of Melania Trump walking with her husband, former President Donald Trump, has gone viral on social media following months of speculation regarding her whereabouts.

Melania Trump has largely been 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 a more active role.

Her absence has been the subject of much speculation, as critics questioned why she appeared to remove herself from public life. The talk was exacerbated when the former model was notably absent from a Trump family Christmas card, which featured her husband, all of his children, and her father.

Donald Trump had revealed his wife's reasons for being absent from his New Year's Eve party, when he explained in a speech at his residence Mar-a-Lago that she had been with her "very ill" mother, Amalija Knavs, in a Miami hospital. Knavs died in January at the age of 78.

On Tuesday, Melania stood next to her husband while the presumptive GOP presidential nominee fielded questions from reporters after casting his vote in the Florida Republican primary.

When asked by reporters if she plans to return to the campaign trail ahead of the 2024 election, the former model responded: "Stay tuned."

Video footage preceding that moment has now gone viral on X, formerly Twitter. The clip shows the Trumps and their aides walking together ahead of the vote.

Ron Filipkowski, an attorney and frequent Trump critic, shared the footage online, adding the caption: "A rare Melania sighting, as she shows up today to be filmed by the campaign going in to vote in the Republican primary (probably for [Nikki] Haley). You can feel the love."

As of press time, the clip had garnered more than 325,000 views.

Newsweek contacted a representative of Trump's campaign via email for comment.

Melania Trump has been, on the whole, less visible when compared to spouses of previous presidential candidates, and her approach to her husband's campaign trail underscores the unconventional nature of Donald Trump's bid for the presidency.

Unlike past first ladies who have actively campaigned on behalf of their partners, during the 2016 presidential race, Melania Trump chose moments that would maximize impact without exposing herself to the harsher elements of campaign scrutiny. She also didn't hold a traditional activist role similar to her predecessors during Donald Trump's four years in the White House.

Melania Trump maintained a similarly low profile during the former president's 2020 campaign, and has yet to be seen on the 2024 campaign trail, although she has attended a handful of events at Mar-a-Lago.

In May, roughly six months after Donald Trump announced his reelection campaign, Melania Trump told Fox News Digital that she was fully supportive of her husband's decision to run for president again.

During his town hall last month in South Carolina, Donald Trump was asked if his wife would be active on the campaign trail, much like current first lady Jill Biden has been on behalf of President Joe Biden.

After praising his "very brilliant" wife, Donald Trump explained that much of his wife's attention is devoted to their son Barron Trump, who turned 18 on March 20.

"Her life revolves around that boy, [he's] so important to her," the former star of The Apprentice told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. "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."

"She's a private person," he continued. "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."

Donald Trump previously said that he anticipates his wife would play a "big role" in his campaign, telling Fox News' Brian Kilmeade that he often relies on Melania for advice because she is "very smart" and "very compassionate."

"I think she's going to be very active in the sense of being active, at the same time, I don't want my family to be too active because they did such a great job last time," the former president added.

Donald Trump was declared the presumptive GOP nominee by the Associated Press on March 12 after he collected additional primary wins in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington. Joe Biden unofficially clinched the Democratic nomination the same day.