US3 min(s) read
Former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews has offered new details regarding Melania Trump's frequent absences from executive branch duties, describing a first lady who preferred living in New York over residing in Washington, D.C.
Speaking on the podcast On Sunday with Jack Cocchiarella, produced by MeidasTouch, Matthews detailed her personal observations from her tenure on the campaign trail and inside the White House. Matthews served as deputy spokesperson before resigning after the events of January 6.
During her appearance, Matthews explained that despite working alongside top officials, she never crossed paths with the former model. "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," she said.
She noted: "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."
Matthews stated that despite efforts to renovate the presidential residence, the first lady had little interest in staying there. "She didn't want to stay at the White House. She thought the White House was old and falling apart, and she wanted to be in New York and do her own thing," Matthews shared.
Following an absence of over a month from public duties, the first lady recently appeared in the Rose Garden for a Fostering the Future event. Matthews acknowledged that foster care is one of her passions, but noted that the timing coincided with media attention surrounding executive assistant Natalie Harp. Harp appeared to keep a low profile during the Rose Garden gathering amid reports regarding her role.
Matthews addressed claims regarding payment for campaign appearances. "We know too that - it's been reported - that Melania gets paid for showing up at events when they were on the campaign trail, which is crazy to think that you have to pay your own wife to show up somewhere," she remarked.
Matthews added: "I wonder if her rate has gone up after all of this news, because I'm sure she doesn't like any of this being out there - whether or not it's true."
An analysis of public schedules shows that the first lady appeared publicly once every six days on average, dropping to once every 12 days over the summer.
She has delivered 29 public speeches during the current term, compared to 130 speeches delivered by Michelle Obama during the same timeframe.
She has not traveled beyond the East Coast since July 2025, whereas Michelle Obama visited all 50 states during her tenure.
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