Former President Donald Trump shared some sad news about his wife, Melania, and their family at a New Year’s Eve party in his Mar-a-Lago country club.
Trump revealed to party-goers that Melania’s mother, 78-year-old Amalija Knavs, was very ill and the former first lady was spending the holidays attending to her.
“Hopefully, she will be recovering because she was very ill,” the 45th president said during a speech at the event. “I just want to say hello to the first lady, we just spoke down in Miami at a great hospital.”
“Hopefully, it will be OK,” he said.
“But she is a tough one. A very tough one,” Trump revealed. “She sends her love to everybody. She knows about 95% of the people in the room, and we want to wish Amalija gets better as quickly as possible.”
“Melania was a great first lady, so popular, the people love her,” he assured the crowd. “She sends her love to everybody.”
Mainstream media outlets had speculated on Melania’s whereabouts after she failed to appear on the Trump family Christmas card.
The former first lady has largely stayed out of the public eye since Trump left the White House in January 2021, but made an appearance at former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s funeral in late November and at a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives on December 15.
“Melania has always been very devoted to her entire family. It should be no surprise that she spent this Christmas with her ailing mother,” a spokesperson told Fox News.
Take a look —
President Trump at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve 2023! pic.twitter.com/YmUSIJ8QHI
— Shannon Ford (@shannonfordUSA) January 1, 2024
Praying for Melania’s mother and their entire family during this time 💖🙏💖 pic.twitter.com/SV2bH1Bwii
— FLOTUS Report (@MELANIAJTRUMP) December 27, 2023
Trump’s club guests were later entertained by rapper Vanilla Ice, who was joined on stage by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Video of the event went viral on social media —
Trump had Vanilla Ice and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at his New Years Eve party😂pic.twitter.com/5xqNdat9sg
— Mister Race Bannon (@MrRaceBannon) January 1, 2024
The Horn editorial team