Where's Melania Trump? Former first lady has been absent from her husband's rallies, speeches

When she was first lady of the United States, Melania Trump was very much in the public eye.

Now that her husband seeks re-election, Mrs. Donald Trump has kept a low profile.

Since January, Melania Trump has been mourning the death of her mother, Amalija Knavs. And, presumably, she's preparing Barron Trump, her only son with Donald Trump, for college following his graduation from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 18-year-old Barron Trump picked a college in New York, his father told the New York Post in an Aug. 20, 2024, story. However, he did not mention which university Barron Trump would attend, adding his team would announce it “soon.”

Photos: Funeral for Melania Trump's mother held at same church where Donald and Melania got married

But as Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, travels the country for rallies and speeches, Melania Trump has been notably absent. It's contrary to the 2016 and 2020 elections, when she made several public appearances alongside her husband.

When there was an attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former first lady released a statement the next day to express her thoughts and concerns: “When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron's life, were on the brink of devastating change,” she wrote in a statement. “A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” Melania Trump wrote. “The core facets of my husband's life — his human side — were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.”

Less than a week after the attempted assassination attempt, Melania Trump did make a surprise appearance at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. She did not deliver a speech this time like she did during the 2020 RNC in Washington, D.C., but opted to sit in the Trump family box and appear on stage later with Donald Trump when he formally accepted the Republican nomination.

Barron Trump was the only immediate Trump family member who did not attend the 2024 RNC.

Here's a roundup of notable 2024 campaign events that Melania Trump has attended on behalf of her husband, Donald Trump.

Class of 2028? Barron Trump headed to a New York college, not UPenn or Georgetown, breaking family tradition

Melania Trump attended Trumpettes Gala at Mar-a-Lago in Florida

On Feb. 10, 2024, Melania Trump and former president Donald Trump attended a Trumpettes Gala at Mar-a-Lago, the family's private club in Palm Beach, Florida. She accompanied him when he spoke to the Trumpettes fan club in February, and then for a dinner the former president hosted for Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán.

On a Primary Election Day 2024, Donald and Melania Trump cast their votes in Palm Beach, Florida

On March 19, 2024, the Florida presidential preference primary Election Day, Donald and Melania Trump cast their votes at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida. "Stay tuned," the former first lady said, smiling when asked about a return to presidential campaign politics.

According to the Palm Beach Post, the appearance at the polling precinct is a rarity: Melania Trump has largely stayed out of the spotlight as her husband campaigns for the presidency for a third time, nor did she attend his "Super Tuesday" election victory party on the night her husband swept more than a dozen primaries to get within range of clinching a third straight GOP presidential nomination.

Melania Trump attends Trump ‘awards night’ as Jack Nicklaus presents him with ‘most improved player’

On March 24, 2024, Donald and Melania Trump attended the 2024 Senior Club Championship award ceremony in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president added two more wins to his long self-proclaimed list, saying on his social media site he won not only the Club Championship but also the Senior Club Championship at his golf course in West Palm Beach. According to The Hill and Tom D'Angelo's column in Golfweek, a USA TODAY publication, Trump's declaration, which occurred during Trump International's awards night, was mocked by President Biden online: “Congratulations, Donald. Quite the accomplishment,” Biden wrote. At the awards ceremony that Melania Trump attended, Jack Nicklaus presented Donald Trump with the 2024 Trump International Golf Club Most Improved Player award.

Melania Trump attends fundraiser at home of billionaire investor John Paulson

On April 6, 2024, Donald and Melania Trump arrived at the home of billionaire investor John Paulson in Palm Beach, Florida. The Palm Beach Post reported that the Trump campaign expected to pocket $33 million from hedge fund guru's gathering. According to an invitation obtained by USA TODAY, the small group of billionaires there included Palm Beach County sugar mogul Jose “Pepe” Fanjul; Palm Beach resident and former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross; Howard Lutnick, head of the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald; mega-GOP donors Rebekah and Robert Mercer; Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts; investment banker Warren Stephens; and real estate magnate Steve Witkoff.

The price of admission on the invitation was $250,000 with a maximum contribution of $814,600, according to the April 2024 Palm Beach Post story.

Melania Trump hosts fundraisers for Log Cabin Republicans, LGBTQ+ friendly conservative group

Despite the group’s complicated history with her husband, on April 20, 2024, Melania Trump hosted a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans at Mar-a-Lago. Less than three months later, the former first lady hosted another Log Cabin Republicans fundraiser on July 8, 2024, in New York. Donald Trump did address the conservative gay rights organization at its December 2022 gala, also held at his Palm Beach club.

The Log Cabin Republicans describe themselves as the “nation’s largest Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBTQ+ conservatives and allies.” In 2016, they declined to endorse the former president, but in the 2020 election, the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed him, reversing their previous stance, according to USA TODAY. The executive director of the group, Jerri Ann Henry, resigned shortly after.

The 2024 Republican presidential nominee has elicited criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates, however, for often ridiculing transgender athletes in his rally speeches. The Palm Beach Post reported that at one event in West Palm Beach in fall 2023, Donald Trump said the former first lady did not like when he performs a particular "routine" — one in which he mocks a transgender weightlifter — saying she told him it was not presidential.

Log Cabin Republicans and Trump: Who is the LGBTQ+ friendly conservative group?

Melania Trump makes rare appearance at 2024 Republican National Convention

On July 18, 2024, the last night of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Melania Trump made a rare appearance, wearing a red suit and waving to the crowd.

In 2020, the first family — Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump — attended the RNC in unity to support former President Donald Trump. At the 2024 RNC, most of the Trump family attended, except for one: Barron Trump.

Though she did not give a speech as she did at the 2016 and 2020 RNCs, Melania Trump sat in the Trump family box for the 2024 RNC. She also surprised her husband on stage in a viral awkward moment after Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination.

Contributing: Kate Kealey, USA TODAY Network; Margie Cullen, USA TODAY; Tom D'Angelo, Palm Beach Post

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Where's Melania Trump? Rare public appearances by former first lady