WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABC NEWS)- The White House has announced that first lady Melania Trump underwent a procedure Monday morning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to treat a kidney condition.
President Donald Trump tweeted late Monday afternoon that he was headed to visit her at the hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, but said nothing when reporters shouted questions as he left the White House.
Mrs. Trump, 48, had what is being called an “embolization procedure” to treat what the White House said is a “benign kidney condition,” according to a release from the first lady’s communications director Stephanie Grisham.
“The procedure was successful and there were no complications,” the White House said.
“Mrs. Trump is at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will likely remain there for the duration of the week. The First Lady looks forward to a full recovery so she can continue her work on behalf of children everywhere,” the White House said.
The president and first lady spoke before Monday’s procedure and he spoke to the doctor immediately following the procedure, a senior administration official told ABC News.
Notable with the news about Mrs. Trump is the secrecy surrounding it. The White House chose not to announce the news at Monday’s press briefing just hours before the first lady’s office released a public statement.
Moreover, word of the diagnosis and the planned surgical procedure never leaked out of a White House defined by constant leaks.
Melania Trump’s expected multi-day hospitalization would be the longest for a first lady since Nancy Reagan spent roughly a week in the hospital following a mastectomy in October 1987.
