There’s a role Melania Trump normally fills, standing beside her husband at major events, and this year it’s kept going to someone else in the family instead.
Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade watched a woman come down the Air Force One stairs behind Trump and told viewers, “As the first lady comes down the stairs to join the president.” His co-host had to correct him on air. The woman was Lara Trump, not Melania, and the mix-up says something about how often Lara has been standing in that exact spot lately.
It started in mid-May with Trump’s state visit to China, where Lara joined her husband Eric, Elon Musk, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth. Melania stayed home. Her office gave the South China Morning Post one sentence and nothing more: “First Lady Melania Trump is not traveling this time.”
Back in 2017, Melania had made the same trip herself, sitting in on calligraphy, cooking and astronomy demonstrations during Trump’s first term visit. This time, Lara posted her own send-off on Instagram, captioning a photo “Team CHYYYYYNA” with flag emojis from both countries attached.
The dynamic has held since, and reports describing the two women as having a “stiff relationship” have followed alongside it.
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Melania is said to keep her distance from the Trump family’s women generally, including a bond with Ivanka that’s been described as friendly rather than close. Lara has taken the opposite approach publicly, praising Melania’s “impeccable style” and defending her in April after Jimmy Kimmel joked she looked like “an expectant widow.” Lara didn’t let that one slide. “Jimmy Kimmel has really fallen off the deep end,” she said on Fox News. “None of this is funny. Comedy isn’t funny anymore.” Melania has never said a word about Lara publicly, in either direction.
Her absence from Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral on July 28 produced the strongest backlash so far.
Trump, JD Vance, Scott Bessent, Eric and Lara sat together at Washington National Cathedral for the service honoring Graham, who died July 11. Melania’s seat stayed empty.
The replies online weren’t gentle.
“Why wasn’t Melania there? What a disgrace. Thank God Eric and Lara Trump were there to support him,” one person wrote.
Why wasn’t Melania there? What a disgrace. Thank God Eric and Lara Trump were there to support him. I pray he dumps her ass.
— Kathy Ultra MAGA 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@KLUltraMaga) July 28, 2026
Another asked pointedly: “Why are all these clowns together in the front row? Where’s Melania? Where’s Usha?”
Why are all these clowns together in the front row? Where’s Melania? Where’s Usha? pic.twitter.com/EOfkD9vVUq
— Wolverine 2026 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@WolverineResist) July 28, 2026
A third brought up her attendance elsewhere entirely: “#melania trump didn’t attend @LindseyGrahamSC funeral with her husband but was perched up at the FIFA World Cup finals?”
#melania trump didn’t attend @LindseyGrahamSC funeral with her husband but was perched up at the FIFA World Cup finals? .
— Bekindandgentle (@bamaeufa) July 28, 2026
There’s a considerably more serious possibility behind all of this than any rumored rivalry.
One day before Graham’s funeral, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, released an AI-generated video identifying places Melania visits regularly and describing how she could be targeted there. It’s part of a broader run of threatening messaging aimed at the Trump family from Iranian state-linked outlets since the war began, and it puts her recent absences in a different light entirely.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
