Melania will return to campaign trail "when it's appropriate," Trump says

In his upcoming "Meet the Press" interview, Trump goes into the whole "Where's Melania?" thing

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published September 15, 2023 4:47PM (EDT)

Former U.S. First Lady Melania Trump arrives at Trump Tower in Manhattan on June 8, 2023 in New York City.  ( James Devaney/GC Images)
Former U.S. First Lady Melania Trump arrives at Trump Tower in Manhattan on June 8, 2023 in New York City. ( James Devaney/GC Images)

Last week, during a Iowa–Iowa State college-football game attended by Donald Trump, a plane flew overhead with a banner trailing behind it reading, "Where's Melania?" Noticeably absent from her husband's 2024 campaign events, this question has been circulating over the past few months, and it's one that Trump addresses himself in his upcoming "Meet the Press" interview, set to air this Sunday. 

In a snippet from the interview reported on by NBC News, moderator Kristen Welker asks if we'll be seeing the former first lady on the trail anytime soon, to which Trump says, "Yes. Soon? Yeah, pretty soon. When it's appropriate, but pretty soon. She's a private person, a great person, a very confident person and she loves our country very much." He goes on to add that he prefers to keep her away from it all as "It's so nasty and so mean."

As NBC points out, her absence is not all that unusual as she "made limited appearances on the campaign trail in the past two election cycles when her husband ran for president." That being said, she hasn't popped up at any events since Trump announced his reelection campaign in November 2022.


MORE FROM Kelly McClure