Former first lady Melania Trump has been noticeably absent from former President Donald Trump's re-election efforts on the campaign trail, but her name recently made an unofficial appearance at one of her husband's rallies.
A plane was spotted circling above a Trump rally in Waterloo, Iowa on Tuesday while towing a banner that read "Melania Knows," according to Newsweek.
The incident was chalked up by the media as just another attempt to troll the former first couple, but nobody seems to know who paid for the plane and its trollish banner, nor can anyone say with any certainty what the cryptic message meant.
The small plane and its "Melania Knows" banner was spotted by multiple reporters, and presumably also Trump supporters and rally-goers, circling overhead in the hours leading up to the former president's campaign rally Tuesday evening in Waterloo.
A plane with a sign that says “MELANIA KNOWS” flying near Trump’s rally site in Waterloo, IA. pic.twitter.com/hsilppWIIR
— Olivia Rinaldi (@olivialarinaldi) December 19, 2023
The Mirror, like a few other media outlets, reported that the plane and banner "hilariously trolled" and "humorously pranked" the former first lady and president, but, in reality, all that it did was provide an opportunity for Trump's detractors and haters to engage in rampant speculation about the meaning of the message.
A case in point was an X post from the notoriously anti-Trump Lincoln Project, which shared a photo of the plane and "Melania Knows" banner and asked, "Any idea on what she knows?"
The speculative responses, many of which were crude, ranged broadly to include things like Trump being exposed as a guest on the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's private island, Trump having an affair with his attorney Alina Habba, and Trump having small or dysfunctional genitalia, among other sexually-related insults.
There were also several legal-themed responses, too, such as that Melania knew where Trump had hidden classified documents, that she was preparing to testify against him, or divorce and leave him, that Trump was ultimately headed to prison, and that Trump was still colluding with Russia, among other things.
This is actually not the first time during former President Trump's re-election campaign that a plane and banner have been used to troll him and the former first lady.
Business Insider reported in September that a similar sight was seen above Iowa State University's football stadium in Ames, Iowa, as Trump and other GOP candidates attended the rivalry game between the ISU Cyclones and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.
In that instance, however, the banner read "Where's Melania?" -- undoubtedly a reference to her noted absence from the campaign trail.
Politico reported in May that while the former first lady hadn't joined the former president on the campaign trail she did express her backing for his re-election effort. She told Fox News at the time, "He has my support, and we look forward to restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength," and added, "My husband achieved tremendous success in his first administration, and he can lead us toward greatness and prosperity once again."
Trump himself addressed her absence in a September interview with NBC News and suggested she would join him in campaigning "pretty soon" and when it was "appropriate" to do so. "She's a private person, a great person, a very confident person and she loves our country very much," he added. "And honestly, I like to keep her away from it. It’s so nasty and so mean."
