Melania Trump Reappears

Following Melania Trump's absence at Donald Trump's Super Tuesday watch party at Mar-a-Lago, the former first lady reappeared on Friday.

Trump, the Republican 2024 presidential frontrunner, faced off against former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday on March 5. The former president won nearly every primary race and took the stage at his watch party inside Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort residence, to make a speech before his supporters. However, many expected Melania Trump to be in attendance, but when she wasn't, some speculated over her continued lack of public appearances.

Since Trump began his 2024 bid for the White House, critics have questioned why the former first lady has appeared to remove herself from public life amid her husband's campaign and various ongoing legal troubles.

However, she reappeared on Friday as she and her husband hosted Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán at a dinner reception at Mar-a-Lago.

The Trump campaign said late Friday that Orbán and Trump, two long-time allies, discussed "a wide range of issues affecting Hungary and the United States, including the paramount importance of strong and secure borders to protect the sovereignty of each nation."

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.

Mike Sington, a former senior executive at NBCUniversal, shared a video to X, formerly Twitter, of Trump and Melania at the reception and wrote, "Melania Trump comes out of hiding to party with strongman autocrat Viktor Orban at Mar-a-Lago."

Melania's reappearance comes after Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, formerly an aide and close confidant of the former first lady, shared her thoughts on the continued speculation over her absence on Super Tuesday.

Posting on X on Wednesday, Winston Wolkoff wrote, "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."

Despite Melania's appearance at Friday's reception with Orbán, she 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.

Trump previously addressed his wife's absence during a town hall in South Carolina in February when he was asked if she would be active on the campaign trail, much like current first lady Jill Biden has been for her husband, President Joe Biden.

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. 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 said.

Trump continued: "[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."

During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Friday, Biden slammed Trump for his meeting with Orbán and said, "You know who he's meeting with today down in Mar-a-Lago? Orbán of Hungary, who's stated flatly that he doesn't think democracy works, he's looking for dictatorship. I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it."