Melania and Donald are all smiles as they make their rare public appearance together at the Al Smith Dinner in NYC

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Donald Trump and Melania Trump were all smiles as they made a rare public appearance together at the Al Smith Charity Dinner in New York City.

The former president and first lady both showed up to dinner Thursday night in black tie. Trump smiled, raised his fist and shook hands as he walked to his seat.

Trump is expected to speak at the event later Thursday evening.

Melania was noticeably absent from the election campaign. Over the past year, she has attended only a handful of rallies and events, often avoiding the spotlight. She also broke a longstanding tradition by attending the Republican National Convention in July but not speaking.

However, the former first lady has been in the public eye in recent weeks as she promotes her memoir. Melania.

The Al Smith Dinner is an annual event that raises money for Catholic Charities. Attending the dinner has been a tradition among major parties' presidential candidates since the 1960s.

But Kamala Harris' team confirmed last month that the vice president would not be in attendance. This makes her the first major party presidential candidate to achieve this in decades.

Instead, Harris spent the campaign day in Wisconsin, a key swing state.

More will follow…