If Trump wins Melania might not move back into the White House
Many people were surprised to see Donald Trump with his wife Melania during an October rally at New York's Madison Square Garden. In fact, the awkward interaction between the husband and wife on stage led to all kinds of wild speculation.
At the rally in October, Melania was clearly uncomfortable which has also led many to wonder, will she move back into the White House if Trump wins? With other presidential couples, this wouldn't be a question, but Donald Trump is hardly a typical presidential candidate.
The answer, like anything relating to Donald Trump's love life, is complicated.
Washington, D.C.-based news website Axios writes that don't expect to see the former and possibly future First Lady in a new Trump White House, or at all.
Mary Jordan, a Washington Post associate editor and author of a book about Melania, puts it simply: “Melania does what Melania wants.”
British newspaper The Independent, meanwhile, writes that Mrs. Trump has allegedly cut a deal with her presidential husband about her First Lady duties.
According to The Independent, a Trump insider told tabloid PageSix that the former and possibly future First Lady would divide her time between Washington, D.C. and New York City.
This would be to remain close to her son, Barron Trump, who this year would be starting to study at New York University.
However, the drift between Donald and Melania has been going on for some time now. However, when the New York mogul was declared guilty for paying hush money to an adult film star, many people started to wonder where the former First Lady was.
Exclusive sources told People Magazine that Melania Trump hoped for a long time that the Stormy Daniels case would simply disappear, probably forgetting she was married to one of the most recognizable faces in the world.
However, after the case blew out and hit the national and international spotlight, Melania reportedly “will probably always be mad at him”. Trump may or may not be going to jail, but he’s definitely in the doghouse.
Vanity Fair noticed that the former First Lady was also missing from the press release after Trump was indicted in April 2023. Since then, her anger towards her husband is unlikely to have decreased.
Other people have thrown different theories about Melania’s disappearance during the hush money trial. Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told CNN that, believe it or not, the Trump family takes optics very seriously.
However, at this point, Melania’s priority differs from Donald's and the rest of the family. It's all about herself and her son Barron, and trying to manage to get out relatively unscathed from Donald Trump’s legal problems.
The BBC reports that the former First Lady didn’t release a message to stand with her husband after being indicted for the Stormy Daniels trial, and never visited him in court.
Given that the intimate encounter between Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels occurred just four months after the birth of Barron Trump, the case must have been specially humiliating for her.
However, as the BBC points out, only his son Eric Trump was with his old man during the verdict, with the rest becoming somewhat distant from the whole situation.
Ivanka Trump, who served in top positions at the White House with her husband Jared Kushner, was also absent during the trial.
According to The Daily Mail, former White House staff member Stephanie Wolkoff told CNN that Melania knows precisely the type of man she married to and wasn’t exactly surprised by Donald Trump’s behavior.
However, Melania’s behavior isn’t exactly a surprise either. Ever since the Trumps left the White House, they seem to have taken different paths.
Many news outlets have reported the scant appearances of the former presidential couple together since the Trumps left the White House. Allegedly, she’s dividing her time between New York and Florida.
More often than not, the Donald and Melania Trump can be seen together in very specific public events at Mar-a-Lago, such as Halloween or Christmas.
Otherwise, the former US President tends to provide excuses for his wife’s absence, though more often than not they only fuel more speculation. Will we see more of it during the hypothetical second term of Donald Trump?