When Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden,
speculation continued to rise about Melania Trump's feelings on leaving 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. So was she sad to go, or was she elated? Here's what she's been up to.
Melania got people talking literally the moment she left the White House on January 21st,
2021. Not only did she and Donald refuse to stay for Joe Biden's inauguration,
but her outfit choices turned heads twice on the same day.
She left the White House dressed completely in black, and her look was entirely created
by European designers — which is something people tend to notice on American first ladies.
Decades earlier, Jackie Kennedy was subject to similar censure from American voters,
who wanted to see the first lady in designs made in the United States.
In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris and first lady
Jill Biden both wore outfits from American designers on January 21st,
according to The New York Times chief fashion critic and fashion director on Twitter.
In her black ensemble, Melania said in a speech before she departed:
"Being your first lady was my greatest honor. Thank you for your love and your support.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers, God bless you all. God bless your families,
and God bless this beautiful nation."
"What else has to be said, right?"
After bidding farewell, she boarded the aircraft with Donald,
and when they landed, she stepped off the plane in an orange Gucci caftan,
priced at $3,700, according to The Palm Beach Post. Many interpreted her color choices as a
reflection of her feelings about the change — black around the White House signifies
somber tones while the orange, psychedelic dress represents the joy of finally leaving.
"Have a good life. We will see you soon."
It's a traditional move for former first ladies to pen memoirs once they leave the White House.
Helen Taft kicked off the trend in 1914 with "Recollections of Full Years,"
while Betty Ford wrote "The Times of My Life" in 1978.
After Ford, every first lady wrote a memoir,
with one of the most notable being Michelle Obama's blockbuster "Becoming."
That book launched an entire brand, garnering Obama both a podcast and a lucrative Netflix deal.
While Melania has never been a conventional or predictable first lady,
could she join the memoir movement now that she's out of the White House?
Page Six seems to think so. An inside source told the site:
"Melania is in meetings to write her White House memoir. And it would be
her money — a chance for her to earn on her own."
That's not all. The source also mentions that Donald is in favor of the idea,
and Melania might have a little motivation for revenge, too, if she's so inclined. Her
one-time best friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff wrote a memoir in 2020 called "Melania and Me,"
airing some alleged dirty laundry and painting a less than flattering picture of the first lady.
"There's nothing in the book that I can't back up. Not one word. And Donald and Melania know that."
Melania could take advantage of the chance to share her side of the story.
While a memoir could be in the works, Melania has always been famously private and quiet,
and nothing has changed since she left the White House. CNN fittingly called her, quote, "perhaps
the most private first lady in modern history," and she's keeping with that spirit. While Donald
continues to stir speculation about another run in 2024, Melania has hardly been seen at all.
In fact, the Daily Mail counted, and between January and April 2021,
Melania was spotted just five times since relocating to Mar-a-Lago. These
sightings were relegated to guests capturing moments on social media
as they spotted her walking with her husband and son in the dining room at their resort.
Donald, conversely, has been much more public, even at the resort.
He's often spotted golfing and chatting with guests, but Melania has kept to herself.
As People magazine pointed out, Melania only keeps a few people close;
she did this during her husband's time in office, and she still does it.
Even Melania's Instagram page got whittled down to a few scant
posts that had to do specifically with her time at the White House.
Her activity on the social media site is limited, with absolutely nothing personal.
Despite Melania's love of privacy, we are getting at least some pieces
of the picture of what her life is like at Mar-a-Lago. The only times people generally
catch glimpses of her are in the dining room at the resort with Donald Trump.
However, Michael Wolfe wrote about this experience in his book "Landslide: The Final
Days of the Trump Presidency" and spoke about how particularly awkward the dinners are. He wrote,
"[Donald] appears just as the patio has filled,
at which point everyone stands and applauds. Often, when Melania is here,
they eat alone at a roped-off table in the center — looked at, somewhat, like zoo animals."
They're surrounded by guests sitting at 50-60 additional tables in the dining room,
so it's not exactly a small affair.
While the evening dinner rituals may sound like Melania's worst nightmare,
she does get some reprieve with visits from her family. According to CNN, her parents
have a private suite at Mar-a-Lago and have been spotted at the resort for long stretches of time.
The outlet also notes that they sometimes join Trump and Melania for dinner.
Melania has always made it clear that her son, Barron Trump, is her main priority.
Part of her reluctance to join Donald Trump at the White House early on in his presidency
was to give Barron a chance to finish school in New York City. While he's older now — and
much taller, reportedly standing now at 6 feet, 7 inches — he's still Melania's top priority.
On March 20th, 2021, Melania made a rare post on Twitter with a photo of balloons for Barron's
15th birthday, adding the caption "Happy birthday B.W.T." for his full name, Barron William Trump.
In December 2020, People mag noted that Melania was preparing for her
exit from the White House long before Trump himself accepted it,
because she was in Florida looking for a school for Barron. An insider told the outlet,
"Melania is a great mother and that is her most important role.
Barron is the most important thing in Melania's life."
Melania did land on the perfect school for her teenage son and picked Oxbridge
Academy in Palm Beach, Florida, according to The Sun. Annual tuition at the private
school comes to just under $35,000, and Barron is slated to graduate in 2024.
In July 2021, Barron was spotted in Manhattan leaving Trump Tower with Melania, according to
the New York Post, where he wowed people with his growth spurt since he, like his mother,
has kept out of the spotlight during much of his father's presidency and in the time following it.
It'll probably come as no surprise that rumors started circulating when the news broke that
Melania was looking for a residency in Florida. The New York Times reported in January 2021 that
Melania was scoping out a property in the towns of Jupiter and Palm Beach, outside of the Mar-a-Lago
resort. In the same month, sources told CNN that Melania was setting up her own Palm Beach office.
While the house-hunting news sparked divorce rumors, there are extraneous reasons for
why Melania might have her eye on a separate residence. As The Washington Post explains, Donald
converted Mar-a-Lago from a historic site to a private club in the 1990s for financial reasons.
However, one stipulation is that club members are not permitted to live there full-time,
and these legal restrictions also apply to the Trumps themselves. So,
it's possible Melania was preparing for this situation.
In addition, Melania has a long-standing tradition of having a separate apartment from that of her
husband. People mag reported that in 2016, Melania purchased a one-bedroom apartment in Trump Tower
for $1.5 million. Her reasons for the purchase aren't totally clear — did she buy it for personal
use or as an investment? It seems like Trump and Melania have their own dynamic in their
marriage where a degree of independence is expected. Regardless, divorce rumors
have continued to arise following Melania's time at the White House for other reasons.
Donald Trump celebrated his 75th birthday on June 14th, 2021, and took part in celebrations at the
Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. His son, Donald Trump Jr.,
posted a video of the crowd singing to Trump on Instagram and added the caption:
"It's always nice when family and great friends as well as a
few members of Congress sing you happy birthday."
But a huge chunk of Trump's family was nowhere to be seen, including Melania. In fact,
the only other recognizable face that was Trump-adjacent was Don Jr.'s girlfriend,
Kimberly Guilfoyle. And Melania's apparent absence did not go unnoticed in the comments.
Melania missing the celebration may not have directly fueled divorce rumors,
but it certainly made it clear that she's comfortable living an
independent life from her husband. Before we jump to conclusions,
it could also be that Melania and Barron may have been there off-camera — or joined later.
Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, did speak up about Trump's birthday, telling People mag,
"Donald hates his birthdays. So I did speak to him
and wished him happy birthday and told him, 'Don't worry about your age.'"
"I'm basically first Trump wife, okay, I'm first lady, okay?"
But Melania didn't mention his birthday, nor was she photographed there.
While Donald Trump was in office, speculations ran rampant about Melania's likelihood of divorcing
him. Astoundingly, those with a penchant for gambling even had the option in Las Vegas of
putting bets on the couple's divorce, as The Washington Post reported in November 2020.
Rumors were exacerbated by Melania's lack of PDA
with Trump and her frequent reluctance to make appearances at rallies and events.
After leaving the White House, the rumors didn't completely die down, thanks to Melania's perusal
of real estate outside of Mar-a-Lago and her apparent absence at Donald Trump's birthday.
But is there substance to them? The answer seems to be no. A number of
Melania-focused biographers have come to the same conclusion — she's not going anywhere.
Mary Jordan's groundbreaking biography "The Art of Her Deal" tackled the topic of Donald
Trump's alleged affairs and Melania's decision not to appear on television for
his response to the allegations. As for why Melania didn't walk away, Jordan recalled,
"[Sources] told me over and over again. 'There was more in it for her to stay than to go.'"
Even when bookies were making bets, those closer to the Trumps had a different take.
Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said,
"I don't think Melania leaves Donald. She's very willingly complicit in his
schemes and holds his beliefs as her own. Those two deserve each other."
By all accounts, this seems to remain true.
"And I have much more important things to think about and to do."
Melania wasn't the most active first lady who ever entered the White House.
"You have a question for me? Yes?"
"...You're Melania Trump?”
"…Yes!"
She launched her "Be Best" initiative, which targeted online bullying,
but the campaign didn't take off in the ways she might have hoped.
As CNN reported in 2020, the project quickly fell short of its stated goals.
Despite her apparent reluctance to hustle in the White House, Melania announced on Twitter
in February 2021 that she had taken a professional step after leaving Washington. The statement read:
"Mrs. Melania Trump is announcing the opening of The Office of Melania Trump.
Please follow this account for news and updates."
According to later reporting by CNN, the former first lady was setting up shop in Palm Beach,
Florida, and her proposed use for the space was to continue "Be Best" with a focus on tackling
cyberbullying, among other issues. The outlet noted in January 2021 that Melania
had been working out of Mar-a-Lago but wanted a different location.
She was reportedly supposed to be joined by three former aides from the White House.
As for "Be Best," it remains to be seen what the future holds for the movement.
Melania has always loved New York City, something that didn't change when the family
moved to Washington, D.C. In an episode of "Naughty But Nice with Rob Schuter,"
the podcast host polled his listeners about whether or not Melania would go
back to NYC — possibly alone. The results were revealed in the subsequent episode, and 84%
of participating listeners thought that Donald and Melania would not stay together.
As noted on "Naughty But Nice," Barron Trump is a consideration in the family's living situation.
So it's not terribly surprising that one of the few sightings of Melania post-White House occurred
in Manhattan. As People magazine reported, Melania was spotted arriving at Trump Tower in July 2021,
and the outlet noted that she and Barron were planning on spending a chunk of the summer in both
New York and at their golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, where Donald had gone in May.
Since Melania was spotted alone in New York on this particular visit,
many wondered how Donald Trump feels about her independence. One source told the publication,
"Donald is fine with that as long as she is satisfied, leaves him alone, and makes appearances
when needed. Melania is happiest when she is with her own family members, including her son. She is
not dumb, she just knows how to handle her life to make it as fulfilling for her as possible."
Despite numerous biographies written on Melania and her decades in the spotlight,
the former first lady continues to be a mystery to the world, exacerbated by the
fact that reports on her seem to vary greatly. Mary Jordan, one of Melania's biographers who
wrote "The Art of Her Deal," explained, to some degree, the enigma of Melania, saying,
"I think a lot of people thought she just wanted to be rich. And she wanted not just to be rich — I
heard that several times from key people: 'You don't understand, she wanted to be known.'"
What's even more interesting is the ongoing narrative that Melania had zero investment
in Donald Trump's political life. It's clear that she doesn't want to take a front-and-center role,
but it might not be entirely accurate to believe that she wasn't involved at all.
Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told Jordan for her book that Trump
relied heavily on Melania for advice. He said of the couple,
"She would give him such good, solid, concrete advice. I would say 95 percent of the time,
he took that advice. [...] She has amazing political instincts.
She is exceptionally smart, and people misread her because she is quiet."
If true, this is certainly a case where the quiet, reserved type has been underestimated,
and judging from her stage presence compared to that of her husband's,
it's pretty clear here that opposites do attract.
Melania has never been a fan of rallies — and this was all too clear while Donald Trump was
on his campaign trail prior to his inauguration. While Donald hasn't officially confirmed his 2024
presidential bid as of mid-November 2021, as The Washington Post notes,
the speculation has run rampant that he would, indeed, make another shot for the White House.
"I'll make a decision in the not too distant future."
What would Melania's role be in this sequel? By all accounts,
some might expect her to be as removed as she was the first time,
leaving the supporting roles to other women in the Trump sphere. An insider told CNN:
"You're not going to see her at rallies or campaign events,
even if he 'officially' says he's running again. [...] Instead it's going to be Lara [Trump,
the wife of Trump's son, Eric] or [Kimberly] Guilfoyle [the girlfriend of Trump's eldest son,
Don]. They have that same urge Trump has to [run] again; Melania absolutely does not."
Melania could fill the role of first lady again, should Donald succeed,
but she could also be even more politically eclipsed by Ivanka Trump —
and that might very well be fine with Melania.
Bloomberg reported that Donald Trump wasn't necessarily teaming with Mike Pence again,
and rumors circulated that Ivanka would take on the role as Vice President.
If that's the case, Ivanka would be front and center during the campaign,
leaving Melania to the privacy she so seems to crave.
We know that Melania doesn't want to be in front of a microphone or boosting
crowd morale at a Trump rally, but she would be there, should Donald Trump win again in 2024.
"I'm not a good loser. I don't like to lose."
Melania might be reluctant about another run, though. An insider told Politico what
Donald Trump was facing post-White House in terms of his wife. The source said,
"The only thing that Trump cares about these days is golf and Melania. And
if she doesn't want him to run, then it's going to be pushing a big rock
up the hill. I don't think politics is her thing. She doesn't like the game."
This may be the case, but another source told the outlet that Melania would
be by her husband's side either way. The insider explained,
"[If Trump] runs, she will be right there. She's not
going to have her own rallies. But did she ever?"
There's so much about Melania that people still don't understand. As The Washington Post reported,
early on in Trump's presidency, semi-joking "Free Melania" memes populated the Internet.
But she doesn't exactly seem to need help from memes.
Since leaving the White House and the office of the First Lady, Melania has been doing
exactly what she likes — staying away from the spotlight and being a devoted mother.
Whether she's hibernating before another election is anyone's guess, but if she came back,
we know she'd wear her shield sunglasses and couture and remain as much of an enigma as ever.
"You will be in my thoughts and prayers. God bless you all."
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