First lady Melania Trump, pictured in 2017, appeared at a closed-door Memorial Day reception at the White House with the families of fallen service members. The media were barred from the event. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo Melania Trump emerges at White House after weekslong absence

Melania Trump emerged on Monday after more than three weeks out of the public eye, ending an absence that inspired wild conspiracy theories about her health and well-being.

She appeared at a closed-door Memorial Day reception at the White House with the families of fallen members of the U.S. military. Reporters, photographers and videographers were barred from covering the event, but the first lady issued a statement on Monday evening in what might have been an effort to quell the mounting questions about her lengthy departure from public view.


“It was a privilege to welcome Gold Star Families to the White House today to recognize our nation’s fallen heroes and their families,” she said. “To all those who have lost loved ones in service to our country, our nation grieves with you. … Thank you to those who joined us this evening, and to the men and women currently serving overseas and to their families, thank you for your service.”

But her stage-managed reappearance might not be enough to satisfy those who questioned why she remained in the hospital for five days recovering from an embolization procedure to treat what the White House called a “benign kidney condition,” and then wasn’t spotted again until Monday. Experts said the recovery time for the procedure is usually just a couple of days.

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The first lady’s staff has provided little information about her recovery and maintains that she has continued to participate in internal meetings. Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, has dismissed the conspiracy theories as “silly nonsense.”

Conservatives have sharply criticized the media for focusing so much on the first lady, pointing to the fact that reporters have spotted her in the West Wing.

Unlike her husband, Melania Trump has often shied away from the spotlight, and people close to her told POLITICO recently that she had no interest in satisfying Washington’s need for information about her personal life.

Melania Trump was last seen in public on May 10 when she joined President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence in welcoming back to the United States three Americans who had been imprisoned in North Korea.

Late last month, Melania Trump addressed the speculation about her.

“I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I’m doing,” she wrote on Twitter from her official @FLOTUS account. “Rest assured, I’m here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!”