US President Donald Trump said he had been too busy to buy First Lady Melania Trump a birthday present as she turned 55 on Saturday, instead opting for a dinner aboard Air Force One as the couple returned from Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome.
“She’s got a working birthday,” Trump told reporters on the presidential plane, adding, “I haven’t had time to buy presents, it’s been pretty busy.” The dinner on board Air Force One would serve as a celebration, he said: “I’m taking her for dinner on the Boeing — I’m taking her for dinner on Air Force One.”
The Trumps, who flew to Rome on Friday (local time) for the late pontiff’s funeral, skipped any plans to dine out in the Italian capital and headed directly back to the US.
The president, now in his second term, said the demands of office — including major issues like tariffs, Ukraine, Iran and Gaza — had left little room for personal planning. He also joked about letting Melania speak to reporters herself, saying he’d send her back into the “lion’s den.”
Earlier in the day, the couple was seen boarding Air Force One at a Washington-area air base, with Melania dressed in a tan trench coat and sunglasses. While the Trumps have largely led separate lives since his return to office, with Melania staying in New York where their son Barron attends university, they have made occasional public appearances together — most recently hosting the White House Easter egg roll on Monday.
Last year, the couple spent Melania’s birthday apart, as she remained in Florida while Trump was in New York for his hush-money trial involving porn star Stormy Daniels. “It’d be nice to be with her, but I’m at a courthouse for a rigged trial,” he had said then.
