WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump spent a low-key birthday at the White House Sunday after what her husband described as a “traumatic” shooting at the gala White House Correspondents’ Dinner the previous evening.
The Slovenia-born Melania, who turned 56, was “holding up well” despite Saturday night’s scare, a spokesperson told The Post Monday.
The first lady’s East Wing staff gave her flowers and a card to mark the occasion, while the White House posted a message on social media reading: “Happy Birthday to our amazing First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump!”
Melania’s birthday followed the shooting at the dinner held at the Washington Hilton and preceded the state visit by the British king and queen, which begins Monday.
The first lady was sitting between her husband and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at the top table when authorities say 31-year-old Cole Allen charged a Secret Service checkpoint with a long gun in a bid to take out the president and top administration officials.
The president’s wife looked visibly shocked at the sound of the gunfire.
In now-viral video footage of Trump and Vice President JD Vance being removed from the stage, Melania Trump can be seen crawling out from under the table and joining her husband behind a ring of Secret Service agents.
The first lady appeared with President Trump and other administration officials in the White House briefing room fewer than two hours later, appearing on the verge of tears when the commander in chief spoke of past attempts on his life.
“Melania was cognizant,” Trump said at the time. “It was a rather traumatic experience for her.”
“I’ve been through this before a couple of times, and she has not — to this extent. She handled it great,” the president told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
It marked the third attempt on Donald Trump’s life after he was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa, in July 2024, and stalked by a would-be assassin at his West Palm Beach, Fla. golf course in September 2024. On both occasions, Melania Trump was elsewhere, though she saw the Butler shooting on television.
“When you see him on the floor, you don’t know, you don’t know what happened,” she told Fox News of her feelings at the time.
In the aftermath, Melania released a two-page statement calling for an end to political violence and thanking law enforcement.
“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change. I am grateful to the brave Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband,” she said.
Security will be a top concern this week as King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive Monday afternoon for a four-day state visit.
The president and first lady will welcome the royals at the White House and, on Tuesday, hold a state dinner with about 120 guests.
But since the Pennsylvania shooting, security has been at the top of Melania Trump’s mind.
In her self-titled documentary, the first lady is seen grilling officials about the security measures put into place for Inauguration Day in January 2025.
“Is it safe? Because if we go out, I think people will already know where we would go out. So it’s kind of like, how could that be safe, especially with the last year, what’s going on and stuff?” she said, later adding: “I have concerns.”
