US first lady Melania to skip G7 summit in Quebec, won't accompany Donald Trump for Kim Jong-un meet

Washington: First Lady Melania Trump isn’t joining her husband at the G7 summit in Quebec this week or planning to accompany him to the expected meeting with North Korea’s leader in Singapore the week after, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said Sunday. Melania’s decision not to go to Quebec is a departure from 2017, when she made an international summit debut at the G7 meeting in Italy and followed up at the forum of G20 industrialized and developing nations in Germany. Spouses typically get together at events of their own during the meetings of world leaders. [caption id=“attachment_3748353” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of US president Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. AP[/caption] The first lady stayed behind on Friday when President Donald Trump, his daughters, eldest son and son-in-law went to the Camp David retreat for the weekend. She hasn’t made a public appearance since before her five-day hospital stay in mid-May for treatment of a kidney condition the White House only described as benign. Grisham said earlier that the first lady has been meeting with staff and working on projects. Melania is scheduled to join the president on Monday in hosting a reception, closed to the press, for Gold Star families. “She will not attend the G7 and there are no plans for her to travel to Singapore at this time,” Grisham said. The G7 summit will be held in Quebec on Friday and Saturday. The president plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on 12 June in Singapore, the first leaders’ summit between two countries that are still formally at war.