Melania Trump Leaves Trump Tower After Being Holed Up for Nearly Two Weeks

Melania Trump was photographed leaving her New York City residence on Tuesday, marking her first public sighting since her husband, Donald Trump, was convicted in his hush money criminal trial.

In photographs published by the New York Post, the former first lady, 54, is seen wearing a golden brown jumpsuit while stepping out of the Trump Tower skyscraper with her 18-year-old son, Barron Trump, in tow.

Keeping her head down, Melania Trump made her way into a black Secret Service SUV, into which at least seven Louis Vuitton luggage bags were loaded, according to the publication. Also placed into the bulletproof vehicle, per the Post, were a number garment totes emblazoned with Barron Trump's initials.

According to the Post, the vehicle left for neighboring New Jersey, where the Trumps own an estate at Bedminster. The outing marks the first time Melania Trump has been seen in public in almost two weeks. It was reported that she had been holed up in her penthouse in the Manhattan landmark since May 23.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Melania Trump via a website request form for comment.

Questions regarding Melania Trump's whereabouts have flooded social media for a number of weeks, after the Slovenia native was not seen at court for the entirety of her husband's high-profile criminal trial, which took place in New York City.

Donald Trump, 77, was found guilty on May 30 of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment. The former president was accused of arranging shortly before the 2016 election for his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she alleges she had with Donald Trump.

The money was listed in the Trump Organization's records as "legal fees," which prosecutors said was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 race. Donald Trump had admitted to reimbursing Cohen for the Daniels payment but denied all wrongdoing, saying the criminal trial was part of a political witch hunt aimed at derailing his White House bid. He also denied Daniels' allegation about the encounter.

After being convicted, Donald Trump said outside of the courtroom: "This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt."

The former first lady's absence from the trial spared her from listening to adult entertainer Daniels' testimony, during which she shared details of her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, alleged that the encounter took place in 2006, one year after Melania Trump married the then real estate mogul.

In an interview that aired on Fox & Friends on Sunday, Donald Trump said his wife is "fine," but that the criminal trial was "very hard for her."

"It's tougher, I think it's probably in many ways, it's tougher on my family than it is on me," he said.

Asked how his wife was doing, he responded: "She's fine, but I think it's very hard for her. I mean, she's fine. But it's, you know, she has to read all this c***."

While she was absent from the courtroom, Melania Trump has been photographed with her husband on occasion in recent months. The former model and her husband were on hand for their son Barron's high school graduation in Palm Beach, Florida, on May 17.

Over the past several months, Melania Trump has largely shied away from making public appearances, a move that prompted questions as her husband ramped up his efforts to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

Melania Trump's former friend and aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told CNN earlier in May that she did not believe the Slovenia native would attend the trial.

"Melania is Melania's own person," said Winston Wolkoff, who has been highly critical of Melania Trump in the years since their relationship soured. "In regards, again, to a marriage that you want to consider to be something that most people are trying to still understand, don't. I do not see her supporting him this way."

"I think you can feel that humiliation without having to put yourself in front of the cameras," she added. "Everything Melania does is staged."