Melania Trump’s absence from family Christmas celebration explained

Melania Trump’s absence at the Trump family Christmas at Mar-a-Lago raised eyebrows - but now an explanation has been offered.

The former first lady missed Christmas with Donald Trump to spend time with her ailing mother, a source told Fox News Digital.

“Melania has always been very devoted to her entire family,” the source close to Ms Trump told the outlet. “It should be no surprise that she spent this Christmas with her ailing mother.”

A source told Page Six that Amalija Knavs, has “been very sick in the hospital” and “Melania was by her side” instead of being at the party where a family photo without her was taken.

Ms Trump’s son Barron was present at the Christmas dinner with his father and other family members at the private members club in Palm Beach, Florida.

The former first lady’s absence from her family’s Christmas came as members of the club told a local author that she was rarely seen there.

“Nobody knows where she is,” Laurence Leamer, author of Mar-A-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump‘s Presidential Palace, told The Telegraph.

“It’s like a mystery. It’s certainly talked about.”

Ms Trump has scarcely been seen in public over the past year as her husband has campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination, been charged in four separate criminal cases, and appeared frequently in court for a civil fraud trial in New York.

In November, she made a rare public appearance when she joined the other living former first ladies at Rosalynn Carter’s memorial in Atlanta.

A few weeks later Ms Trump delivered a speech at a naturalisation ceremony at the National Archives in Washington DC, a move that garnered attention as her husband has been charged with the illegal retention of Archives documents.

A Trump source told Page Six this week that Ms Trump had been feeling more confident in public after her recent outings and would take on a more visible role for her husband’s campaign in the new year.

“Trump and his family are so secure that he will become president again that insiders at Mar-a-Lago say he’s reached an agreement with Melania to step up top-tier diplomatic appearances in 2024,” the source said.

In September, reports emerged that Ms Trump had quietly renegotiated her pre-nuptial agreement.

The new agreement was focused on maintaining and increasing Barron’s “substantial trust”, and was prompted by Mr Trump’s 2024 presidential run and swirling criminal exposure, a source told Page Six.

Mar-a-Lago has been the Trumps’ primary home since leaving the White House, as Joe Biden took office in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol and Mr Trump’s second impeachment.

Mr Trump, 77, and Ms Trump, 53, have been married since 2005.