Walter Reed Medical Center has addressed a woman’s remarkable assertion that she spotted Melania Trump at the hospital amidst unfounded death rumors and widespread speculation about the president’s condition.
The supposed observer, Coral Ben-Atar from Dumfries, Virginia, posted on Instagram Threads on Saturday, claiming she saw the First Lady at the Maryland facility last week.
She said she found the First Lady’s appearance ‘a little off’ considering the persistent health claims about the commander-in-chief.
When asked about this supposed sighting, a spokesperson from Walter Reed Medical Center remarked to Daily Mail: ‘Please direct your inquiry to the White House Press Office.’
Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment but did not get an immediate response.
Trump dismissed the health rumors during a press conference on Tuesday, saying he was ‘very active this Labor Day.’
Ben-Atar posted: ‘Went to Walter Reed on Thursday to be monitored in Labor/Delivery because I’m very pregnant.
‘While being monitored in triage, guess who unexpectedly showed up for a surprise “tour” of L&D? Melania Trump. Even the staff seemed unsure of her presence there.
‘Considering news reports about Trump’s disappearance, I find it peculiar that Melania was casually walking the corridors of Walter Reed followed by accounts of her husband being missing,’ stated Ben-Atar, whose husband is a veteran.
Ben-Atar, a veteran herself, reiterated her claim of seeing Melania last week, stating to Daily Mail: ‘I didn’t interact with her!’
Coral Ben-Atar, 30, said she saw the First Lady at the hospital on Thursday, according to an Instagram Threads post she made
Walter Reed told Daily Mail to reach out to the White House when asked about the Virginia mother’s claim the First Lady (pictured on July 4) was there
Ben-Atar (pictured with her husband) doubled down on her claim about spotting Melania at the hospital to Daily Mail
Last week, rumors about Trump’s health began to swirl after several White House reporters noted the president had not been seen in public since a marathon cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
People also noted he had no events scheduled all weekend, despite Labor Day coming up.
Bogus conspiracy theories started circulating online claiming that the President was sick or even died – with the hashtag ‘#whereistrump’ going viral on Friday.
And the unfounded rumors went into overdrive after Vice President JD Vance told USA Today he was ready to step in for Trump ‘if there’s a terrible tragedy.’
The rumors were also fanned by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who asked people to pray for Trump as he claimed without evidence, that the president was in a ‘health crisis,’ and looked like he was about to ‘collapse.’
But Trump defied the claims after he was spotted heading out for the golf course on Saturday with his granddaughter Kai Trump, and Sunday by himself.
Axios journalist Barak Ravid also revealed a US official had confirmed the president was in good health.
‘Trump is OK. Will play Golf this morning,’ Ravid wrote on X shortly before images emerged of the president and his granddaughter.
On Tuesday, the Republican, 79, reacted to the social media storm about his health.
Ben-Atar said she saw Melania in the labor and delivery ward of the hospital
When asked by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy about the rumors that went viral over the Labor Day holiday that he was mysteriously missing or perhaps ‘dead’, Trump said he did not see the social media trend himself, but that he got reports on it from his staff.
‘I have heard, it’s sort of crazy… It’s so fake… I was very active this Labor Day,’ he said.
Trump joked that the media was not holding him to the same standard as former President Joe Biden.
‘I didn’t do any for two days and they said there must be something wrong with him. Biden would not do them for months, you wouldn’t see him and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him and we know he wasn’t in the greatest of shape,’ he said.
The president spent nearly 50 minutes speaking and taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, which suggests that rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated.
