Divorce rumors, a possible affair, and an obvious absence. How did Melania react to
Donald Trump's alleged infidelity? And does she really want to return to the White House?
Melania Trump is one of the few first ladies in the history of the presidency
to delay moving into the White House. The Trumps made it clear they wanted their son,
Barron Trump, to be able to finish school in New York without interruption, yet questions
remained about the level of involvement Melania was going to have in her East Wing duties.
Back in 1999, Melania had a much different
vision for her theoretical role as FLOTUS. She told The New York Times,
"I would be very traditional. Like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy. I would support him."
Seventeen years later, Melania drastically changed her tune, telling GQ,
"I chose not to go into politics and policy. Those policies are my husband's job."
Her position changed again just days before the election, when she announced that one of
her key issues as first lady would be to combat cyber-bullying, which many found
ironic considering Donald Trump's penchant for slinging barbs via X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Social media is an eventual part of our children's daily lives."
During Donald's first official overseas trip. Melania accompanied him, and,
according to many accounts, salvaged what could have been a diplomatic disaster. Melania
essentially stole the entire international show, charming Pope Francis with small talk and making
headlines with her fashion choices. Of her performance during the trip, Donald himself
was reportedly overheard aboard Air Force One describing her as "Jackie O on steroids."
It wasn't until June 2017 that Melania finally made the move into the White House,
and during that time, taxpayers had to foot a huge bill in order to keep the couple's
long-distance marriage on track. In estimating how much it actually cost to protect Melania
and Barron while they continued to live in Manhattan's Trump Tower, the New York
Police Department arrived at a staggering figure. Apparently, it cost New Yorkers between $127,000
and $146,000 a day to protect the first lady and her son, according to NBC New York. What's more,
the state reportedly incurred additional costs of around $24 million in the two months between
election day and inauguration day, as they had to protect Melania, Barron, and Donald Trump.
Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill formally sought a full reimbursement
while residents launched a change.org petition in March 2017. The petition received 560,000
signatures but the subject became moot when she eventually made her way to Washington.
Almost no celebrity couple is immune to the occasional tabloid headline,
but when Donald Trump threw his hat into the ring for the presidency, the supermarket checkout was
noticeably quiet about his marriage. According to Politico, this may have a lot to do with Trump's
close relationship to AMI owner David Pecker, the man whose media empire owns the National Enquirer,
the Globe, the National Examiner, and Radar Online. Trump and Pecker worked together in
the '90s on Trump Style, a magazine for guests of the Trump properties, and the two have
remained close ever since. Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, AMI's publications tended
to be highly critical of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband, former
president Bill Clinton, while simultaneously championing Trump and leaving Melania Trump out
of it altogether. This was purely coincidental, according to Pecker, who told the New York Post:
"The pro-Trump and anti-Hillary covers have seen newsstand sales pop 23 percent. That is
the only poll data that I care about." Donald Trump first met Stormy Daniels
in 2006 at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship. According to the adult film star,
an affair soon followed. Donald had married Melania Trump the year before and their son,
Barron, was just a few months old when Stormy alleged things got physical between them. She
shared details of their encounters with InTouch in 2011, but the outlet didn't publish them until
2018 because Trump's long-time attorney, Michael Cohen, apparently threatened to take legal action.
However, InTouch finally decided to post the interview a week after a 2018 report
from The Wall Street Journal claimed Cohen had paid Stormy $130,000 in 2016
to keep her from talking about the affair. The hush-money allegations
eventually resulted in Donald Trump being slapped with 34 felony counts.
"And it's not over yet. Who knows what's going to happen?"
While he has denied everything, Melania is said to have been angry when news of the affair came
to light. According to a 2024 book by New York Times reporter Katie Rogers, she tried
to get her revenge through small gestures, like refusing to join her husband on a trip abroad.
Not only did the Trumps have a lowkey anniversary in the wake of the Stormy Daniels story,
they also sent up some marriage red flags when Melania suddenly dropped
out of a planned visit to Switzerland for the president's attendance at the World Economic
Forum. In a statement to CNN, Melania's communications director cited, quote,
"scheduling and logistical issues" as the reason for the first lady's change of plans.
So what did Melania end up doing the day her husband landed in Davos? She went to
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which just so happens to be a 6-minute car ride,
or 16-minute walk from the White House, according to Google Maps.
Donald and Melania Trump have repeatedly been accused of being overly cold with one another,
and in 2018, The Washington Post took those allegations one step further. Speaking to
numerous sources, the outlet reported that Melania and the then-president
were leading completely separate lives while in the White House. According to insiders,
the pair did not share a bedroom, rarely ate together, and, as one source put it,
"They spend very little to no time together."
On the flip side, a different source said they actually spent almost every evening together
while Melania's former friend, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff underscored the fact that
the distance between the Trumps didn't signal any trouble in paradise. She said of the pair,
"They are not that couple that holds hands
just because. Melania is old-world European and it's not who she is."
Indeed, back in 2016, Melania herself told
The Washington Post that she and her husband enjoyed being apart, saying,
"We are both very independent. We like to do what we like to do,
and we give ourselves and each other space."
Since moving out of the White House and into Mar-a-Lago, it seems little has changed. As one
source told Radar Online in 2023, Melania isn't interested in golfing or schmoozing
like her husband is, and they're happy to spend time apart. They told the publication,
"She mostly keeps to herself and stays out of
Donald's way as long as he stays out of hers. It works for both of them."
The Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan made headlines in 2020 when she published
The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, in which she claimed that the real reason
Melania didn't immediately move into the White House was pure business. According to sources,
Mrs. Trump seized her opportunity after her husband was elected president to demand that
he update their prenup. She allegedly forced him to make it more favorable
towards her and son Barron Trump if he wanted her to stick around. Jordan wrote,
"She wanted proof in writing that when it came to financial opportunities and inheritance,
Barron would be treated as more of an equal to Trump's oldest three children."
"She's very smart. She's, uh, is very— She's a chess player. She plays the long game."
Melania's chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, slammed the reports, telling CNN,
"This book belongs in the fiction genre."
Jump to 2023 when Donald was ordered to pay $5 million to E. Jean Carroll,
who accused him of sexual assault and defamation, and Melania reportedly used the opportunity to
cash in again. Sources told Radar that this time, she threatened to renegotiate their
prenup or even file for divorce if Donald didn't up her monthly allowance and increase their son's
inheritance. If he did, she promised to support his 2024 presidential run. The insider claimed,
"This really was a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Let's just say Melania was
in no mood to negotiate with Donald — and he knew full well there was
no chance he was returning to the Oval Office without her."
The first half of 2023 was rough for Donald Trump. In March,
he was indicted over an alleged hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels ahead of the
2016 presidential election. That April, he pled not guilty to the resulting 34 felony counts,
but if he was hoping for support from his wife, he didn't exactly get it. As one insider told People,
"She doesn't sympathize with Donald's plight."
But while Melania Trump didn't appear by his side in court and she never made a public statement
about the indictment, the Office of Melania Trump's X account did tweet that news outlets
should stop assuming they know how she feels. They also issued a public request, writing,
"We ask readers to exercise caution and good judgment when determining
whether or not stories concerning the former First Lady are accurate."
That June, Donald's legal woes worsened when he was indicted on 37 federal charges
in the classified documents saga. Again, Melania kept quiet and sources told People,
"She doesn't want anything to do with any of it."
They also underscored that she's moving forward without getting sucked into the legal battles,
but she reportedly does wish all of the charges against her husband
would go away. An insider told the magazine,
"She wants his legal team to fight this to the end and hopefully end the fight."
Meanwhile, another source told Daily Mail,
"She is focused on her family and stands behind her husband, as she always has."
She may not have rushed to move into the White House and she was constantly
criticized during her time there, but Melania Trump is not ruling out another
stint as first lady. In her first sit-down interview since moving back to Mar-a-Lago,
Melania told Fox News in 2022 that she actually enjoyed political life.
"I enjoyed living in the White House."
She also praised her husband's administration.
"To be the first lady of the United States was my greatest honor."
It seems she may have known something we didn't because in November 2022,
Donald Trump officially announced that he was again running for president. Not surprisingly,
Melania kept to her word and said she was all for it. She told Fox,
"My husband achieved tremendous success in his first administration, and he can
lead us toward greatness and prosperity once again. He has my support, and we
look forward to restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength."
Donald Trump has often praised his wife publicly, and yet, it seems he
has a strange way of celebrating special occasions. When he celebrates them at all,
that is. In January 2024, for example, the Trumps marked their 19th wedding anniversary,
but rather than tweeting about the milestone, the former president was totally focused on
the defamation trial brought against him by E. Jean Carroll. According to a count by Newsweek,
Trump spent January 22 firing off a tirade of messages against Carroll and mentioned the retired
journalist a whopping 46 times on Truth Social that day, without highlighting his marriage.
A few weeks later, on Valentine's Day, the former president again took
a unique approach to romance when he turned a love letter to Melania into a fundraising
opportunity. In an email sent to supporters, Trump told his wife he loved her and enthused,
"Even after every single indictment, arrest, and witch hunt, you never left my side."
He also thanked her for her unwavering support and shared,
"I wouldn't be the man I am today without your guidance, kindness, and warmth."
Folks were then encouraged to click a huge red button with the words "Send Your Love," which
allowed them to send a personalized message to Melania, as well as donate money to his campaign.