The media can't help but speculate as to the whereabouts of former first lady Melania Trump and whether or when she will join her husband, former President Donald Trump, on the campaign trail as he seeks re-election in November.

Some of that speculation has been rather wild and off-base, including recently from CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny, who surmised on-air that Melania's notable public absence was due to Trump's upcoming trial over 2016 "hush money" payments to silence former porn star Stormy Daniels's allegations of an affair, according to Mediaite.

Trump faces dubious criminal charges in New York, and an April 15 trial date, over allegations that he later falsified business records to cover up reimbursements to his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for the payments that were intended to silence accusations against Trump from Daniels and others.

Unclear when Melania will join Trump on campaign trail

During a Friday afternoon segment on CNN's "Inside Politics," host Dana Bash referenced a separate CNN report from earlier in the day which asserted that former first lady Trump's role in her husband's campaign had yet to be fully decided, in large part because she is a private person who has final say over any plans that involve her.

"She’ll definitely have a role, but in terms of what that is, I don’t know," an unnamed source close to the Trump campaign said. "It is her decision on how much or how little she will be campaigning."

Another unnamed source said to be close to former President Trump told the outlet, "She is very selective and methodical in what she wants to do and how she presents herself," and added, "She is very decisive with these things and knows they have a lot of intended and unintended consequences."

The CNN report went on to note that, per other unnamed sources close to the former first lady, she is still mourning the January death of her mother, providing support to her father following the grievous loss, and helping her son Barron get ready to attend college in the fall.

CNN reporter points to "the Stormy Daniels case" as the reason for Melania's absence

During the "Inside Politics" segment, according to Mediaite, host Dana Bash referenced that report, cited a few quotes from it, and played a clip of former President Trump from last year in which he asserted that his wife "doesn’t need to be out there" to get "ripped apart" by the media.

Contributor Jackie Kucinich said, "I mean, it’s an unconventional campaign and this is another part of it, but it’s been, I mean, this is how Melania Trump was as first lady, right? She did what she wanted. She showed up when she wanted. She was out there when she wanted. And it doesn’t seem like anything has changed going into the second campaign."

That is when reporter Jeff Zeleny interjected with his take and speculated, "And we’re about to have a very uncomfortable, a case from the early stages of their marriage, the Stormy Daniels case, which she has talked privately about as being very, you know, a very painful moment. So you have to wonder if that is part of it as well, staying out of the limelight as that case goes through."

"But at the end of the day, I’m not sure this matters electorally if she was out campaigning or not," he said before absurdly adding, "But you do wonder if the shoe was on the other foot, if another spouse was not out, if Michelle Obama had not been out, if Jill Biden is not, I think there would be some questions here. But, as you said, unconventional."

"Stay tuned"

Axios reported earlier this month that, aside from appearing at the former president's side when he launched his re-election campaign in November 2022, the only other public appearance she has made concerning that effort was when she joined Trump to cast their ballots in Florida's Republican primary election.

Asked by a reporter if she had any plans to join her husband on the campaign trail anytime soon, Melania only smiled and replied cryptically, "Stay tuned."

That seems to track with Trump's own at-times cryptic replies when asked if the former first lady -- who notably also limited her campaign appearances in 2016 and 2020 -- will eventually join him at his events and rallies, as he typically says that it will happen "soon" without specifying a date and also points out that it is ultimately up to her to decide when and where.