Trump jokes about Melania’s absence amid affair rumors

• Trump was in Ireland for two days meeting business leaders and attending the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf resort; Melania stayed home rather than take the ~7-hour flight.

US President Donald Trump drew laughs, and a fresh round of speculation about his marriage, after joking Sunday about first lady Melania Trump's absence from his weekend trip to Ireland, where he was instead accompanied by longtime aide Natalie Harp. 

"Maybe I'm not that friendly"

Trump, 80, arrived in Ireland on Sep.12 for a two-day visit, meeting business leaders in Dublin before heading to his Trump International Golf Links resort in Doonbeg for the Irish Open. 

Speaking at the US ambassador's residence in Dublin, Trump told the crowd that Melania, 56, had wanted to join him but skipped the roughly seven-hour flight from Washington.

"My wife is here in spirit. She's watching right now. She said, 'Say hello,' because she was very friendly with these two people," Trump said, according to remarks reported by multiple outlets. "I said, 'Well, why don't you come with me?' She said, 'Well, it's a seven-hour trip. Maybe I'm not that friendly.'"

The line drew laughter from the room. Trump added: "I said, 'Put on a Make America Great Again hat and come on. Let's go.' But, uh, she sends her regards."

Harp by his side, again

Traveling with Trump instead was Natalie Harp, 35, a White House aide who has followed him to nearly every public engagement since joining his team in 2022. A former anchor at the right-wing network One America News, Harp earned the nickname "human printer" for her habit of printing out flattering articles and social media posts for Trump to read, along with fetching merchandise, running searches, and drafting possible Truth Social posts. According to prior Daily Beast reporting, she draws a taxpayer-funded salary of $150,000 a year.

Harp's visible presence on foreign trips has repeatedly drawn media attention and online commentary, including speculation this week over whether she helped write the Dublin remarks.

Melania's lighter public schedule

The joke landed against the backdrop of reporting on Melania's reduced public role. A Daily Beast analysis of her schedule found that by the end of July she had made only 38 public appearances, well below the pace set by her immediate predecessors: Michelle Obama gave 130 speeches and Jill Biden delivered 43 over comparable 18-month stretches after moving into the White House. Melania has reportedly split more of her time between New York and Florida during Trump's second term than she did during his first.

She reemerged publicly in late August for an expansion of her Fostering the Future initiative, telling the crowd, "I heard you missed me. Here I am. Welcome to the White House."

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Pushback on Harp coverage

Reports have suggested Melania has grown frustrated by the intense media focus on Harp and her proximity to the president, though her team disputes any rift. Melania's spokesman, Marc Beckman, previously defended Harp against critics: "They don't know anything about the first lady's personal and private life. What they need to do is look in the mirror because they're all attacking this hardworking, very talented, very intelligent person in Natalie Harp."

Separately, Trump biographer Michael Wolff has claimed it is an "open secret" that Melania leads a life largely separate from her husband, a characterization that remains Wolff's own account rather than one confirmed by the Trumps or their representatives.