President Donald Trump's high-stakes three-day China visit has revealed one person conspicuously missing — his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.
Trump was accompanied to Beijing with his cabinet, his son Eric, and daughter-in-law Lara, and 16 corporate CEOs, The Daily Beast reported. And hours before taking off to leave the United States, the first lady's office dropped a cryptic confirmation in a statement to the South China Morning Post, without any explanation for why she would miss out on the trip.
"First Lady Melania Trump is not travelling this time," Melania's spokesperson said.
When pressed for additional details, her team went silent.
The snub marks the latest chapter in what insiders describe as a widening rift between the first couple.
"The move comes amid speculation about the first lady increasingly breaking with her husband as she seems to be trying to charter her own course," The Beast reported. "Trump and his White House aides were reportedly blindsided last month when she called a surprise press conference to read a statement declaring she had no ties to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The move appeared only to revive the scandal that Trump himself had been eager to put to rest."
Melania has been noticeably absent at the White House throughout the second Trump administration and often does not travel with the president. And although first ladies don't always attend trips, the questions around her attendance have raised eyebrows.
"Her absence is all the more glaring because it follows a trend that has stood out in Trump’s second term: She’s been appearing alongside him less and less on state visits," according to The Beast.