Melania Trump has attended a UFC fight, a fireworks show and a World Cup final this year. Add those up with everything else, and the total still lands somewhere between 14 and 16 public appearances for the entire year.
Journalist Joanna Coles put that figure out into the open during an appearance on The Daily Beast’s Inside Trump’s Head podcast, describing the pattern as a “vanishing act.”
“We really have seen almost nothing of the First Lady this year, which is why it was a surprise to see her,” she said. “We’ve seen her, I think, three times this month at UFC at the fireworks. And she was there with Barron at the World Cup final on Sunday. And actually, I looked it up. She’s done approximately 14 to 16 public appearances this year.” She stacked that number against her predecessors: “Michelle Obama made between 100 to 150 public appearances a year, Laura Bush around 120, and Jill Biden more than 100 trips alongside her husband, Joe Biden.”
Coles wasn’t shy about her curiosity regarding what fills the rest of Melania’s schedule.
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“What is she doing the rest of the time? I do have questions about her because it’s very odd that she’s missing, and she is particularly elegant. So I always like to know what she’s wearing when she shows up. What is she doing? What she do with all her time?”
Author Michael Wolff, appearing alongside Coles, offered a sharper take on the marriage itself.
“They don’t know what she’s going to do, and they are afraid of it,” he said, before identifying what he considers the actual source of tension. “Even more disturbing to the White House is that this business of hers seems to make her the center of attention, which puts her kind of in direct conflict with the President of the United States, who, as we know, can’t stand anyone else being the center of attention. Doesn’t mind you making money, but do not steal the limelight.”
The business Wolff referenced has performed well financially.
Disclosures released earlier this month show Melania has pulled in more than $17.2 million this year through her Amazon documentary, book sales and NFT ventures, with the Amazon deal alone reportedly worth around $10.7 million.
Publicist Dylan Thomas Cotter reads the whole arrangement as deliberate. “The public, in a first for the United States, is witnessing a First Lady who is strategically positioning and publicizing herself while also distancing herself from the very man tasked with governing this country,” he told the Irish Star.
A separate list of notable absences has grown right alongside those business ventures.
Melania skipped Trump’s state visit to China, missed Don Jr.’s wedding entirely, and passed on the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
