Former first lady Melania Trump did not attend a New Year’s Eve party at her and her husband’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday evening because she was tending to her mother in a Miami hospital, according to a report.
According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, former President Donald Trump addressed his wife’s absence to a crowd that was gathered to ring in the election year.
Trump said his mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs, 78, was “very ill” and called the situation a “tough” one, the outlet reported.
“Hopefully, she’ll be recovering,” he added. “It’s a tough one, a very tough one.”
The former president said his wife “sends her love.”
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“She knows about 95 percent of the people in this room,” the 2024 GOP front-runner said.
No other information was made available about Knavs’ condition, but her hospitalization or potential health issues could be one reason Melania Trump has been largely out of the limelight during her husband’s latest presidential campaign.
Last week, the New York Post’s Page Six reported the former first lady has been keeping herself out of the spotlight to raise her and the former president’s son, Barron.
The outlet said that with Barron nearing adulthood — he will turn 18 in March — Melania Trump is expected to be out and about more in the coming year.
Was Melania the most elegant first lady since Jackie Kennedy?
The report made no mention of Knavs.
Melania did attend former first lady Rosalyn Carter’s funeral in November.
A week later, she spoke at a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives.
Former first lady Melania Trump discusses her personal process in becoming an American citizen during a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives in Washington D.C.@MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/jB162ZkTkm
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) December 15, 2023
Melania Trump joins fellow former first ladies in rare public appearance at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral https://t.co/ujXdrrhNR6 pic.twitter.com/rr5jmgGnHn
— New York Post (@nypost) November 29, 2023
Sunday’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago featured several high-profile guests.
Social media posts showed rapper Vanilla Ice performing on a stage with one of the members of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the frame.
Vanilla Ice and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles performed at the New Year party for Trump at Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/oG2hTrf8r1
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 1, 2024
Quite possibly the best video I have ever taken
Yes, that’s Vanilla Ice.
Yes, that’s Donald Trump.
All my dreams… I think they just came true. pic.twitter.com/Xh7WfoZqIC
— Tom Sauer (@thomasbsauer) January 1, 2024
Trump was seen near the stage.