Melania Trump, who has been mostly absent from public view while her husband, Donald Trump, campaigns for president this year, will appear at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on April 20 for the Log Cabin Republicans, the group’s president said.
The event, which was first reported by Politico, is a return of sorts to the political arena for the former first lady, who has consistently stayed away from campaign events.
Donald Trump has insisted for months that his wife would join him on the trail. He invokes her often during his rallies, to cheers from the crowd, even as she has not traveled with him. And she did not join him at a Super Tuesday party at Mar-a-Lago, the couple’s home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Last month, Melania Trump made a rare public appearance with her husband, accompanying him when he cast his ballot during Florida’s primary. When asked if she would appear more regularly this year, she replied, “Stay tuned.”
Melania Trump remains a popular surrogate for the former president, but she has shown little interest in hitting the campaign trail.
The fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of LGBTQ+ conservatives, will still keep her largely out of the public eye. The group’s president, Charles T. Moran, said that Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, was also set to appear.
Melania Trump has maintained ties to the Log Cabin Republicans for years. In a financial disclosure last year, she reported receiving a $250,000 payment from the group in December 2022. On Twitter that month, the group posted a photo saying she was the special guest at a “private dinner” and thanking her for “continuing the projects she worked on while in the White House.”
The former first lady’s few public appearances over the last year have been largely disconnected from the Trump campaign. Last month, she joined Donald Trump as he hosted Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, at Mar-a-Lago.
In January, she delivered a eulogy at the funeral for her mother, Amalija Knavs. And she gave a speech in December at a naturalization ceremony in Washington, where she told new American citizens that citizenship meant “actively participating in the democratic process and guarding our freedom.”
In November, she joined her husband at a funeral for his older sister. And she attended a memorial service for Rosalynn Carter with other first ladies from both parties. It was the first occasion that all of the living first ladies had been in one place since George H.W. Bush’s funeral in 2018.