President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted a reception for gold star families at the White House Monday where Daily Caller reporter Jena Greene was in attendance.
Greene’s father, Marine Lt. Col. David S. Greene, was shot down by enemy fire in Iraq in 2004. Greene attended the event with her family, who also were previously honored by the president at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.
Greene captured footage of the First Couple entering the reception which marks Melania’s first appearance in her official capacity since undergoing kidney surgery three weeks earlier. Media speculation has been rampant as to the first lady’s whereabouts in the interim period.
First public appearance by @FLOTUS in just under a month at the Gold Star Families reception to ihht. Good to see her doing well. pic.twitter.com/p6pCB4UPbi
— Jena Greene (@JenaMGreene) June 4, 2018
Greene reported that the president addressed the first lady’s recent public absence during his speech. He said she “had a little problem” recently, but that she should “wouldn’t miss” the reception “for anything.” Trump also joked about media speculation that the First Couple had split up and denied the rumors in a lighthearted fashion. “Isn’t that right honey,” he affirmed in a joke to her.
The couple later sat together during the ceremony. Greene further noted that Trump got up impromptu after a rendition of “America the Beautiful” to shake hands with every single gold star family in the front row of the event. A string quartet was also observed playing Billy Joel covers.