Melania Trump is ‘doing great’ after her kidney surgery, President Donald Trump said Friday, as the first lady still has not been seen in public since her procedure.
‘She’s doing great. Right there. She’s doing great,’ he said on the White House lawn Friday morning before he left to give the commencement at the Naval Academy.
‘She’s looking at us, right there,’ he added and pointed to a window in the White House residence above him.
Melania Trump has not been seen in public since her kidney surgery last week. Here she is pictured at her Be Best program announcement the week before her procedure.
The first lady’s last public appearance was on May 10 when she accompanied the president to Joint Base Andrews to greet three North Korean detainees on the tarmac after they were released the evening before.
She also appeared with President Trump at an event honoring military spouses ahead of Mother’s Day weekend the week before her surgery.
The first lady was not visible to reporters on the ground.
She underwent an embolization procedure last Monday, likely to remove a cyst from her kidney. Her office said it was benign, or non-cancerous.
Melania Trump spent a week in the hospital recovering, returning to the White House on Saturday.
After she got home, her office said she was in ‘high spirits.’
The president visited her three times at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where she had the surgery.
Her last public appearance was on May 10 when she accompanied the president to Joint Base Andrews to greet three North Korean detainees on the tarmac after they were released the evening before.
The day before she and the president celebrated military mothers at the White House ahead of Mother’s Day weekend.
And she had announced her Be Best campaign against social media bullying two days before that.
While she hasn’t been visible in public, she has been a presence on social media.
Her twitter account had a post two days after her surgery thanking her doctors and her Instagram account paid tribute to Medal of Honor winner Britt Slabinski on Thursday.
She also tweeted about the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, last Friday, writing: ‘My heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today.’
It’s unknown if the first lady, who is an active presence on social media, wrote those posts or if they were written by staff.
Under such a procedure as the first lady’s, doctors block a flood vessel in order to stop blood flow to a specific area and stop a patient from bleeding.
After she returned to the White House, she thanked people for their good wishes.
‘Our office has received thousands of calls and emails wishing Mrs. Trump well, and we thank everyone who has taken the time to reach out,’ the White House said in a statement on Saturday.
Melania Trump is not the first first lady to undergo surgery while living in the White House. Laura Bush, Nancy Reagan and Rosalyn Carter all underwent procedures during their tenure.
Melania Trump is not the first first lady to undergo surgery while living in the White House.
Laura Bush underwent neck surgery in 2007. She also had skin cancer removed from her shin in 2006.
Nancy Reagan had breast cancer surgery in 1987 and Rosalyn Carter had a procedure to remove a nonmalignant lump from her breast in 1977.
The president was subject to some social media rubbing after her return to the White House when he misspelled her name as ‘Melanie’ in a tweet welcoming her home.
‘Great to have our incredible First Lady back home in the White House. Melanie is feeling and doing really well. Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes!’ Trump wrote, before the tweet was swiftly deleted and replaced with a correct version.