First lady Melania Trump made an unannounced visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Thursday, her first solo public appearance since the story broke that the president had an alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels.
The first lady was in no position to take questions, with her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham publicizing the visit – in advance of Saturday’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day – in a tweet, but with the traditional ‘pool’ of reporters not being asked to tag along.
Originally, the first lady was supposed to accompany the president to Davos, Switzerland, for his appearance at the World Economic Forum today and tomorrow, but Grisham said because of ‘too many scheduling and logistical issues’ Melania Trump would not be going.
First lady Melania Trump (right) is seen returning to the White House with President Trump on January 15, the last time she was photographed by the White House press corps
First lady Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham made FLOTUS’ trip to the Holocaust museum public. The tour was previously unannounced
The first lady’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham tweeted about Melania Trump’s visit to the Holocaust museum on Thursday, but reporters were not invited to tag along
Melania Trump, whose first year in the position of first lady was marked with sporadic public appearances, has kept an even lower profile in the early weeks of this year.
It was the Wall Street Journal that first reported on January 12 that Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to keep Daniels quiet in the weeks before the 2016 election.
Cohen has denied Trump had a sexual relationship with Daniels, but has not denied making the payment.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, divulged details about her alleged relationship with Trump during a 2011 interview with In Touch Weekly, which never ran until January 17 of this year.
The adult film actress said she and the billionaire businessman first hooked up in 2006, at a Nevada hotel outside of Lake Tahoe, and continued to see each other through 2007.
The interview was reportedly conducted along with a lie-detector test.
Before the release of the In Touch Weekly Q&A, several other sources corroborated the details of the story.
Porn star Alana Evans appeared on Megyn Kelly’s portion of the Today show and talked about how Daniels called her from Trump’s hotel room, wanting her to come along.
Melania Trump and the now-president were married on January 22, 2005.
And despite marking their 13th wedding anniversary on Monday, neither Trump mentioned the occasion, nor were they seen out together publicly.
The president was, however, dealing with the government shutdown.
Since seen returning to the White House on January 15 from a weekend away at Mar-a-Lago, Melania Trump hasn’t been photographed.
She’s kept off social media for the most part too.
On January 20, marking the one-year anniversary of her husband’s inauguration day, the first lady tweeted a photo of herself – sans Trump – being accompanied to the swearing-in ceremony by a military escort.