Melania Trump Says ‘I Heard You Missed Me’ at First Public Appearance in a Month
Melania Trump Says ‘I Heard You Missed Me’ at First Public Appearance in a Month
Charna FlamFri, August 21, 2026 at 12:20 AM UTC
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Melania Trump on August 20, 2026 in Washington, DC.Credit: Finn Gomez/Getty -
Melania Trump announced a $2 million donation to expand her Fostering the Future initiative with scholarships at two universities on Thursday, Aug. 20
Her speech marked her first public appearance in 32 days following her last outing at the FIFA World Cup final
The first lady immediately began her speech, saying, “Good afternoon. I heard you missed me?”
Melania Trump acknowledged her heavily discussed absence in a recent speech.
The first lady, 56, spoke from the White House Rose Garden on Thursday, Aug. 20, highlighting her Fostering the Future initiative and plans to expand its national network, according to a White House press release. The expansion is facilitated by a $2 million donation from IndyCar and Fox Corporation, which will fund scholarships at Indiana University and Purdue University.
Melania approached the podium and immediately began her speech, saying, “Good afternoon. I heard you missed me?” The audience laughed before she added, “Here I am.”
Her joke follows a 32-day absence from public view, with her last photographed appearance at the FIFA World Cup final on July 19. During the event, which she attended with President Donald Trump and his sons, Barron and Eric, the president was greeted with boos that rang out at MetLife Stadium.
The Trump family sat in a suite with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft as they watched the match between Spain and Argentina at the New Jersey stadium.
Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, DC, on August 20, 2026.Credit: Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty
In the weeks since, Melania has missed several high-profile events, including the rescheduledWhite House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24 — after the initial dinner she attended in April was disrupted by gunfire.
Shortly after the April dinner, Melania’s exclusive senior adviser Marc Beckman told PEOPLE that the first lady “was not frightened” and is “not going to be deterred, and she will not stop working as first lady of the United States.”
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“She will not stop attending events. Everything remains the same for her,” Beckman added at the time.
On July 29, Tasnim News Agency shared an animated video, titled Where to Kill Melania, depicting various luxury department stores in Manhattan that it claimed were frequented by the first lady, and offering instructions on how to use these locations for assassination attempts on Melania. (The Tasnim News Agency is said by the U.S. government and other international organizations to be operated by the Iranian government.)
At the time, Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told PEOPLE the Secret Service was aware of the video and was investigating “anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” adding, “Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”
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More recently, an early August report revealed that Melania has been quietly working on a new docuseries.
The forthcoming series is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video this fall. Previously, Beckman shared that the series will offer a “completely different look” at her life than what was already shown in the Amazon MGM documentary, Melania, while speaking to Real America’s Voice.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
