PALM BEACH — “Super Tuesday” was certainly her husband’s big night, but Melania Trump did not appear to attend his speech at Mar-a-Lago.

Donald Trump entered the ballroom at his private club shortly after 10 p.m., and left a little more than half an hour later. His oldest son, Donald Jr., and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, were there. So was his son Eric and his wife Lara, who is vying for a top post in the Republican National Committee. Also in attendance was his daughter Tiffany.

Melania, however, was not seen with the former president during his speech.

While Trump has been a ubiquitous presence at campaign rallies, and even UFC fights, the former first lady has kept out of the public eye since leaving the White House in January 2021.

She has not been at either her husband’s rallies or his court appearances. She did accompany Trump to last month’s Trumpettes gala, also held at the Palm Beach club.

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Melania Trump has been absent from the campaign trail, the former president’s courtroom appearances

The former first lady had been absent from her husband’s side for political events dating back to November 2022 when she accompanied him as he spoke to reporters and then both cast their ballots at the Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach. She then accompanied him as he announced his 2024 White House comeback campaign at Mar-a-Lago a week later.

The absences have sparked widespread conjecture ranging from her purported distaste for the political life, to her wish to focus on raising the couple’s teenage son, to her speculated disinterest in engaging her husband’s courtroom battles.

What is certain is that, for an undisclosed period, Melania Trump was tending to her mother, Amalija Knavss, who was seriously ill and died in early January. The former president first spoke publicly about his mother-in-law’s health at his New Year’s Eve gala, where he explained that Knavss was “very ill” and that Melania was at her side at a Miami hospital.

Knavss subsequently died Jan. 9 at the age of 78. Melania announced the loss of her mother on X, calling her “a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity.”

The former first lady has also been absent from her husband’s court appearances throughout 2023 and early 2024.

She was not present as Trump spoke to the nation in April of last year from the Palm Beach private club after he was arraigned on the first set of what now are 91 felony charges. Nor at his courtroom hearings.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump won on ‘Super Tuesday.’ Did Melania Trump attend his speech?