Melania Trump has often spoken about loving motherhood, but she and husband Donald Trump
only have one son, Barron.
Why not more?
They certainly have their reasons.
As the New York Times describes it, Melania Knauss met Donald Trump at a Manhattan nightclub
in 1998, when she was a single 28-year-old from Slovenia who'd been trying her luck in
the U.S. as a model.
She'd never been married or had any children, unlike the real estate mogul she was about
to start dating.
Donald Trump was still married to his second wife, Marla Maples, at the time, though they
had separated.
Trump and Maples divorced in 1999.
Trump had four children then — three with his first wife, Ivana, and one with Maples.
Having more children was probably not at the top of the 52-year-old businessman's priority
list, but his relationship with the much-younger Melania continued to evolve, and the two tied
the knot in January 2005.
At the time, Melania knew she wanted to be a mother.
She told People on her wedding day,
"We want to have a family, yes."
On March 20, 2006, 35-year-old Melania gave birth to her first and Trump's fifth child, Barron.
Melania was ecstatic about her new role, telling People the following year,
In a 2006 interview with The Palm Beach Post, Melania indicated that becoming a mother was
something she had been eager to experience, saying,
"It's just amazing.
A great, great experience."
But despite Melania's feelings, she and Donald had good reasons to stop at Barron.
Even though Melania would have liked to give Barron a little brother or sister, the circumstances
of her married life to Donald Trump made her goal hard to accomplish.
She told ABC News in 2013,
Melania also indicated that Donald himself was a lot of responsibility, saying,
"I have to go to school now?"
"Yeah, you'll have lunch and then you'll go to school."
"Now I'm gonna go?"
"Yeah."
By 2016, Donald shut down any and all questionssurrounding his and Melania's family goals.
He said at a CNN town hall,
"We're not really thinking about having more kids."
Even then, people weren't convinced.
In June 2017, when Melania and Barron moved into the White House, the rumor mill went crazy.
Closer Weekly notes people thought Melania had a baby bump when she was photographed
in an outfit that appeared to give her one.
That wasn't the only time.
In 2020, when Melania was 50, she inspired pregnancy rumors once more.
It was again thanks to an outfit, the International Business Times reported.
But the rumors proved wrong time and time again, and Barron remains Melania's only child.
Melania is a hands-on mother to Barron.
She and Donald Trump even boasted about having raised Barron with no nannies.
Donald told People in 2015,
Melania added,
Despite their claims, Melania previously admitted to having a nanny, though she kept the nanny's
influence to a minimum.
Melania told the Palm Beach Post,
That said, Melania also emphasized that she and Donald "still need to have a life."
So while Melania showed she always made Barron her priority, she also clearly also was looking
for some balance.
When Donald moved to Washington to begin his presidential term in January 2017, Melania
stayed behind in New York so Barron could finish school and make the transition smoother.
A source told the New York Post in November 2016,
When Melania and Barron joined Donald at the White House the following June, she tweeted,
"Looking forward to the memories we'll make in our new home!"