First lady Melania Trump has decided to sit out the campaign rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania due to a lingering cough.

Her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, said she is skipping Tuesday’s event out of “an abundance of caution”, but “Mrs Trump continues to feel better every day following her recovery from COVID-19”.

It would have marked Melania’s first in-person appearance at a campaign event in more than a year.

CNN cited a source as saying Melania has no upcoming appearances, nor does she have any campaign-related travel plans with the President.

Melania was not expected to deliver a solo speech during the rally in Pennsylvania, which is said to be one of the most critical battlegrounds in the 2020 race.

Her lingering cough did not stop Donald Trump from hitting the campaign trail.

The latest Pennsylvania polls show that two weeks before election day, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is leading the President by an average of seven percentage points in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden is leading Mr Trump by 11 percentage points nationally.

Mr Trump and the first lady at the White House in May. Photo: Getty

Melania’s last-minute decision to call off her attendance comes about a week after she announced in a blog post on the White House website that she had recovered from the coronavirus.

“I was very fortunate as my diagnosis came with minimal symptoms, though they hit me all at once and it seemed to be a roller coaster of symptoms in the days after,” she wrote on October 14.

“I experienced body aches, a cough and headaches, and felt extremely tired most of the time.”

Unlike Mr Trump, who spent three days in hospital taking three different coronavirus treatments, Melania said she chose to opt “more for vitamins and healthy food”.

At the time of the post, she said she hoped to resume her duties “as soon as I can”.

Last week, she also revealed that her 14-year-old son Barron tested positive for COVID-19 but has since returned a negative for the virus.