Former Trump employee weighs in on why Melania disappears from the White House

Melania Trump’s on and off appearance at the White House has been explained by a former worker of the administration.

The First Lady has been seen in the public eye much less than she had been during Donald Trump’s first term – and it even sparked ‘body double’ theories online.

However, there might be a good reason for this.

The answer as to why she has been largely absent from the limelight comes after she broke her 38-day hiatus this year before making an appearance on Thursday (August 20).

This time around, Melania has allegedly been focused on her endeavors outside of the White House, such as children's welfare, education and technology through 'Fostering the Future'.

Last week, Melania made her first public appearance since the 2026 World Cup final on July 19, where she even joked about speculation of her disappearance.

Melania Trump has been in the public eye less this term (Photo by Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images)

"Good afternoon. I heard you missed me," she told attendees. "Here I am."

But an insider has claimed the real reason for Melania’s step back from being in the public eye is less about her work and more because she doesn’t ‘want to’ be there.

Former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews revealed all on the On Sunday with Jack Cocchiarella podcast by MeidasTouch.

Matthews had been an employee of the Trump Administration before resigning after the events of January 6.

On the podcast, she went on to claim that she did not ever meet Melania, stating: "When I was working on the campaign for a year and then at the White House for the last seven months of the first admin, I met the vice president, I met almost every cabinet official. I met members of the first family; I met all of them at one point or another. The only person I never met was Melania Trump.”

Sarah Matthews spoke out about the theory (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

She added: "I never met the first lady, even though I was the deputy spokesperson for the president on his campaign and in the White House. And I think that's pretty telling. That kind of sums it up, where it was this known thing that she was just not around, and she didn't want to be around."

As theories about Melania’s time away from public talking continued online, the First Lady herself issued a statement, published Monday, August 17.

Melania’s absence had been explained that she had been busy reuniting children in Ukraine and Russia amid the war: “To date, First Lady Melania Trump’s efforts have facilitated the reunification of 34 children and families since she penned the Peace Letter to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.”

“There is nothing more powerful than reuniting a mother with her child after an extended period of time,” she said in the statement. “My representative and I are focused on helping facilitate the next reunification of individuals who have been separated from their loved ones because of the war between Ukraine and Russia.”

An analysis of public schedules shows that Melania has appeared publicly around once every six days on average, dropping to once every 12 days over the summer since Trump’s second term began.

UNILAD reached out to the White House for comment.