Convention-Skipping Melania Makes Rare Appearance With Trump
The first couple was photographed holding hands as they arrived at a memorial for the September 11 attacks.
First Lady Melania Trump has traveled with President Donald Trump to Arlington, Virginia, for a memorial at the Pentagon for those killed there in the September 11 attacks.
Melania, 56, held hands with Trump, 80, as they descended the stairs to their place on stage.
Donald Trump, 80, and Melania, 56, arrived at the Pentagon holding hands.
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
Melania then sat next to her husband for the service, during which Trump’s eyes appeared to grow heavy and shut at times.
President Donald Trump, 80, appeared to doze off for brief moments during the Friday memorial at the Pentagon.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Melania’s Friday appearance comes after she skipped Trump’s MAGA Fyre Festival in Dallas, Texas, which was plagued by empty seats and no cable news ratings bump as it competed with the opening two games of the NFL season on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was among those who spoke at Friday’s memorial with Trump and Melania in attendance.
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
Melania has been increasingly absent in MAGA 2.0, making zero public appearances between the World Cup Final on July 19 and a Rose Garden event on August 20—a whole month later.
Including Friday, Melania has been photographed with the president on just six occasions since June 1.
Trump’s 35-year-old executive assistant, Natalie Harp, traveled to Dallas with him this week. Melania did not make the trip.
Nathan Howard/REUTERS
The president’s close personal aide, Natalie Harp, 35, has been seen much more frequently with and around the president, including as they boarded Marine One en route to Texas for his midterm convention this week.
Trump's 35-year-old executive assistant, Natalie Harp, attended Friday’s event at the Pentagon.
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
Harp was also photographed at the Pentagon on Friday—albeit not in frame with the president, who was sitting on stage.
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The first lady did make another appearance in Washington this week. She gushed over the beauty of the White House in a Wednesday speech that came across as tone deaf in the wake of her husband demolishing the entire East Wing, including her office, without warning.
That demolition adds to dramatic remodels he has carried out elsewhere in the building, like paving over the Rose Garden and installing a blinding amount of gold gilding in the Oval Office. Making Melania’s remarks all the more baffling, she delivered them as part of the White House Historical Association’s Presidential Sites Summit.
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