Melania Trump put on a show of unity with her husband Tuesday night when she joined him and the rest of her family on stage in Florida to celebrate his stunning victory in the presidential election.
But as Donald Trump prepares to return to power in Washington, D.C., people close to her, as well as Melania “observers,” say that Americans shouldn’t expect her to follow him in living full-time in the White House.
After all, the newly anointed New York Times best-selling author was largely absent from Trump’s campaign, and it’s well-known that she didn’t enjoy aspects of living in Washington, D.C., and dealing with its social/political scene.
“She clearly hated being in Washington,” Kate Andersen Brower, an author of several books about the White House, told Axios in June.
“If Melania becomes first lady again, of course people expect her to move into the White House and perform appropriate duties,” a social source close to the Trumps told People on Monday. “Melania knows what to do, yet has a mind of her own.”
The People magazine source said Melania would probably maintain “a private living apartment” in the White House and stay there when carrying out required ceremonial duties, such as state dinners, the Daily Beast also said.
During Trump’s first term as president, it also was widely reported that the first couple occupied separate bedrooms. But, unlike the past, the White House won’t become her main residence. “Not likely,” said the source.
Former first lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump look on as Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 06, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
More likely, she’ll divide her time between Trump Tower in New York City and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. In fact, she’ll likely spend most of her time in New York City because her son, Barron, is a freshman at New York University and lives in Trump Tower. She said to Fox News in September: “I could not say I’m an empty nester.”
“As much as Melania loves Mar-a-Lago and her life in Palm Beach, she will spend more time in New York with her son, who is more important to her than anything else,” the People source said.
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When Trump took office for the first time in January 2017, it was clear his wife, a former model from Slovenia, would never be a conventional first lady, if there ever was one, her biographers noted. From the start, she resisted joining Trump in Washington, instead staying in New York City — again because of Barron, it was reported. Then 10, he had to finish out his school year there.
When Melania Trump finally moved into the White House, she barely stepped foot in the East Wing, the traditional base of operations for first ladies, according to “American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden,” by Katie Rogers, a New York Times White House correspondent.
Melania Trump also wasn’t known to be the most industrious of first ladies, according to Rogers. She “avoided being overscheduled, and at times avoided being scheduled at all,” Rogers also said.
Her staff could sometimes convince her to do multiple events on days when they knew she could be “camera ready, with a full designer ensemble, dewy makeup, and a pristine blowout.” But they only were successful about “half the time,” Rogers said.
Melania Trump accomplished a few things as first lady, Rogers reported. Like all first ladies, Melania launched an initiative to supposedly improve the lives of a certain segment of the American public. Melania’s Be Best initiative was supposed to promote childhood well-being and to curb bullying.
But Rogers also cited Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania’s former aide and good friend — with whom she had a famous falling out — as saying that Be Best didn’t amount to much more than a few public appearances and “a pamphlet.”
Her “most lasting contributions” as first lady had do with overseeing upgrades to White House facilities and features that most Americans would never see in person, Rogers said. These projects included a redesign of the Rose Garden and an upgrade to the White House tennis pavilion. Both efforts, though, were met with criticism, as were Melania’s choices for the annual holiday decorations.