President Donald Trump revealed why first lady Melania Trump skipped his trip to Ireland while joking that she was still present “in spirit.”
Trump explained her absence Saturday while speaking to U.S. embassy personnel and business leaders at the American ambassador’s residence in Dublin.
The president was recognizing officials and guests in attendance when he turned to U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh and his wife and brought up Melania.
“My wife is here in spirit, she’s watching right now,” Trump told the audience.
Trump said Melania had asked him to send her regards because she was friendly with the couple.
He then recalled asking the first lady why she did not simply accompany him across the Atlantic.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you come with me?’” Trump recalled.
According to Trump, Melania replied that the journey was seven hours and joked, “Maybe I’m not that friendly.”
The punch line drew laughter from the audience gathered at the ambassador’s residence.
Trump said he tried another approach by suggesting that she put on a Make America Great Again hat and make the trip anyway.
“But she sends her regards,” Trump said.
Melania’s office had confirmed before the visit that the first lady had no plans to accompany Trump to Ireland.
She had been with the president Friday morning for the 25th-anniversary September 11 observance at the Pentagon before Trump departed Washington for Ireland later that evening.
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Trump’s two-day visit included meetings with Irish President Catherine Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin before he traveled to the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf resort.
Several members of Trump’s family did make the trip, including Donald Trump Jr.
Trump quickly pivoted from joking about his wife’s absence to teasing his eldest son about married life.
The president said Don Jr. had “calmed down” since marrying Bettina Anderson in May and joked that his son now had “a little less energy.”
Trump described the change approvingly and said his son appeared happy following the marriage.
The lighthearted family stories came during remarks that otherwise touched on members of the administration, U.S.-Irish relations and the officials accompanying Trump on the visit.
Trump also joked that members of his administration had been eager to make the Ireland trip compared with some other foreign destinations.
“Everyone wanted to come,” Trump said.
The president declined to identify the countries he had in mind but joked that some destinations can be “rough,” drawing another round of laughter.
Trump’s visit mixed official diplomacy with a stop at the Irish Open, being held at Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland in Doonbeg.
His meetings in Dublin also generated more serious headlines after he said he would “love” to see Ireland reunified, touching on the politically sensitive future of Northern Ireland.
But his explanation for Melania’s absence provided one of the lighter moments of the trip.
Rather than suggesting illness, scheduling problems or a disagreement kept her home, Trump portrayed the decision as a simple case of the first lady deciding a seven-hour flight was not worth making.
And if Trump’s retelling is accurate, Melania managed to deliver the best punch line of the trip without ever leaving Washington.