US President Donald Trump departed for a three-day state visit to China on Tuesday without first lady Melania Trump, travelling instead with Cabinet officials and business executives in a delegation that contrasts sharply with the pageantry of his 2017 visit.
Hours before his departure, the office of the first lady confirmed Melania’s no-show in an email response to the South China Morning Post. “First lady Melania Trump is not travelling this time,” a spokesperson said.
The confirmation comes a day after the SCMP reported that Brett Ratner, the director of the documentary Melania, is travelling to China as part of the Trump delegation.
Melania Trump accompanied the US president during his last trip to China in 2017.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, did not directly address the First Lady’s absence, telling SCMP, “China and the US are maintaining communication regarding the specific arrangements for President Trump’s visit to China”.
On Tuesday, President Trump boarded Air Force One with a large entourage, including his son Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Sourabh Gupta, Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies, argued that Melania’s absence suggests Trump’s visit would “have a much lower profile.”
“It is a state visit. But it will be a business-as-usual visit and understandably so, given his brief time on Chinese soil this time,” he added.
In November 2017, Melania Trump joined the president on a high-profile state visit to Beijing, a trip characterised by elaborate displays of hospitality by the Chinese government.
She visited the Banchang Primary School alongside the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Peng Liyuan, attended the Peking opera and took part in a variety of classes, including astronomy, calligraphy, cooking and Chinese architecture.
Her interactions with Peng also drew comparisons between the two first ladies – from their pre-marriage lives to their fashion choices and public demeanour.
During the trip, the US first lady stayed in Beijing as her husband departed for Vietnam, where she attended a panda exhibit at the Beijing Zoo and toured the Great Wall.
At the zoo, Melania fed a giant panda named Gu Gu and interacted with school children.
“Thank you to the Beijing Zoo! Wonderful to meet Gu Gu! Melania Trump,” she later wrote on a panda print.
After visiting the Great Wall, Melania posted a one-minute video on X, formerly Twitter, with a caption, “Thank you #China!”
She instantly became an online sensation in the country, with social media users talking about her floral dress choices, fashion sense and composure.
Interest in Melania surged again after Trump’s return to the White House in January last year, with her videos and photos regularly attracting widespread attention on Chinese social media.
Her absence this time is set to disappoint her admirers in China, who were looking forward to seeing her alongside Peng once again.
Gupta of the Institute for China-America Studies said Chinese netizens should understand that “Asia is a long distance away and this visit is a short one”, but added that an opportunity may come again in a few months.
“The much higher-profile visit that will feature spouses is likely to be when Xi visits the US, tentatively thought to be in late September,” he said, referring to a possible state visit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.
“In all likelihood, Trump’s China visit will be just the preview of a more resplendent second act later this year,” he noted. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
