--- 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: 2026-08-19T07:46:45.429Z 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2205 og:image:height: 1240 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melania Trump Explains Her Absence From the Campaign Trail > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ali Vitali / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Ali Vitali / NBC News Jan 6, 2016 5:53 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Ali Vitali / NBC News Jan 6, 2016 5:53 PM UTC 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/), 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)_._ ```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":"2026-08-19T07:46:45.429Z","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","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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