First Lady Makes First Televised Public Appearance in 26 Days Since Surgery

WASHINGTON – First lady Melania Trump made her first televised public appearance in 26 days Wednesday since having surgery last month.

She attended the 2018 hurricane briefing alongside her husband, President Donald Trump, at the Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) headquarters.

"Thank you, Melania. She's doing great. She went through a little rough patch, but she's doing great ... The people of our country love you," the president said.

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...Four reporters spotted Melania in the White House last week walking merrily along to a meeting. They never reported the sighting because it would hurt the sick narrative that she was living in a different part of the world, was really ill, or whatever. Fake News is really bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2018

The Fake News Media has been so unfair, and vicious, to my wife and our great First Lady, Melania. During her recovery from surgery they reported everything from near death, to facelift, to left the W.H. (and me) for N.Y. or Virginia, to abuse. All Fake, she is doing really well!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2018

At Wednesday's event, Trump touted how 17,000 FEMA and federal employees from the Department of Defense and National Guard were deployed to the Caribbean last fall to aid victims of Hurricane Maria.

"We've had three devastating major hurricanes that hit our country within a month's time," said Trump. "America has never experienced so many large-scale disasters in such a short period of time and we have the most qualified staff."

Trump sat between his wife and Vice President Mike Pence.

"It's an honor to be back at FEMA with you and the first lady," said Pence.

On May 14, Mrs. Trump underwent a surgical procedure to treat what her office described as a benign kidney condition. She spent nearly a week in the hospital and was rarely seen since. Nearly a month later, the hashtag, "Where is Melania Trump," began trending on Twitter.

Finally, on Monday, the first lady returned to the spotlight, attending a Gold Star family event that was closed to the press.

"Thank you to the Gold Star families that joined us in celebration & remembrance," Melania tweeted.

The first lady will not accompany the president to the G7 World Leader Summit in Canada. She will also skip the summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Singapore next week.