--- title: Melania Trump Explains Her Absence From the Campaign Trail description: But that doesn't mean she's ignored. canonical: https://time.com/4169659/melania-trump-campaign-trail-absence/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-06T17:53:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:49:58.601Z article:section: Politics og:title: Melania Trump Explains Her Absence From the Campaign Trail og:description: But her absence doesn't mean she's ignored og:url: https://time.com/4169659/melania-trump-campaign-trail-absence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c043f8cb3c2ead/698877d90b72e345c26e7874/melania-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Melania Trump at the 2015 New York Spring Spectacular Opening Night in New York City on March 26, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melania Trump Explains Her Absence From the Campaign Trail twitter:description: But her absence doesn't mean she's ignored twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c043f8cb3c2ead/698877d90b72e345c26e7874/melania-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melania Trump Explains Her Absence From the Campaign Trail by [Ali Vitali / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Ali Vitali / NBC News Jan 6, 2016 5:53 PM CUT  Melania Trump at the 2015 New York Spring Spectacular Opening Night in New York City on March 26, 2015. Melania Trump at the 2015 New York Spring Spectacular Opening Night in New York City on March 26, 2015.Andrew H. Walker—WireImage/Getty Images by [Ali Vitali / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Ali Vitali / NBC News Jan 6, 2016 5:53 PM CUT Melania Trump, the relatively low-profile spouse of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, explained in a new interview why she’s chosen to stay mostly off the campaign trail. “I’m choosing not to go political in public because that is my husband’s job,” she told[ _Harper’s Bazaar_](http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a13529/melania-trump-interview-0216/ "undefined"), adding that she is “very political in private life and between me and my husband I know everything that is going on.” But in terms of getting out on the trail, she “chose not to be on the campaign … I have my own mind. I am my own person, and I think my husband likes that…” [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/melania-trump-says-she-leaves-politics-donald-n491311?cid=par-time%5F20160106 "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4169659/melania-trump-campaign-trail-absence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4169659/melania-trump-campaign-trail-absence/"},"headline":"Melania Trump Explains Her Absence From the Campaign Trail","datePublished":"2016-01-06T17:53:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:49:58.601Z","description":"But her absence doesn't mean she's ignored","url":"https://time.com/4169659/melania-trump-campaign-trail-absence/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump","2016 presidential campaign","Melania Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c043f8cb3c2ead/698877d90b72e345c26e7874/melania-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ali Vitali / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c043f8cb3c2ead/698877d90b72e345c26e7874/melania-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Melania Trump at the 2015 New York Spring Spectacular Opening Night in New York City on March 26, 2015.","caption":"Melania Trump at the 2015 New York Spring Spectacular Opening Night in New York City on March 26, 2015.","creditText":"Andrew H. 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