What Melania Trump is planning now

It is not known whether Melania Trump longs to be First Lady of the USA again. She largely stayed out of her husband’s election campaign – and many still remember how the Slovenian-born woman felt uneasy about her role as the first woman in the state during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.

But as mysterious and aloof as Melania Trump may seem, she always surprises observers with downright heartwarming moments. After the failed assassination attempt on her husband on July 13, the 54-year-old published a declaration of love. The assassin wanted to wipe out her husband, “his passion, his laughter, his ingenuity,” Melania wrote on the online service X. At the same time, she spoke of “Donald, the generous and caring man with whom I have been through the best and the worst of times.”

Even after Donald Trump declared himself the winner on election night, the couple visibly grew closer. The 78-year-old thanked his wife, turned to her and kissed her on stage in Palm Beach. A gesture that was not necessarily to be expected after Melania’s rather reserved demeanor. More on that here.

Melania met Donald Trump in 1998 in a nightclub in New York. At that time, Melania Knauss, born in 1970 in the town of Novo Mesto as the daughter of a car dealer, had already been a successful model in the USA for several years. Through her liaison with the real estate billionaire, who was 24 years her senior, she was thrust into the spotlight, rose into New York’s high society and caused a stir at the time with revealing photos.

“She will definitely not move back to Washington”

The guests at the pompous wedding in January 2005 in Florida included celebrities such as Elton John, the then Prince Charles and the couple Bill and Hillary Clinton. In March 2006, their son Barron was born, Melania’s only child and Donald Trump’s fifth. When her husband was sworn in on January 20, 2017, she became the 47th First Lady of the United States – the first immigrant and the first for whom English is not her native language.

However, the impression quickly arose that the new role was not tailor-made for her. Melania caused astonishment when she took six months before moving into the White House – and during this time left the role of First Lady to her stepdaughter Ivanka. After the glamorous appearances of her predecessor Michelle Obama, this was a sobering contrast for many observers.

Almost eight years later, the question arises all the more as to how Melania Trump would handle her role as First Lady this time if her husband were to win the election. The US magazine “People” quotes an unnamed source close to Trump who says: “She will definitely not move back to Washington.”

Melania Trump has interpreted the role in her own way during her four years as First Lady between 2017 and 2021. During this time, she was repeatedly told how uncomfortable she felt in the “golden cage” of Washington, how much she preferred to be in the sunny US state of Florida, where the Trumps own a luxury resort, Mar-a-Lago. Is Melania now doing her husband a favor and clearly moving away from this behavior in order to make Donald Trump’s election victory more likely?

“If Melania becomes First Lady again, people will naturally expect her to move into the White House and take on the corresponding tasks,” says another insider who is close to the Trumps, according to “People”. But the source doubts whether the 54-year-old will meet these expectations. “She will have her private apartment there and she has her home in New York and her home in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.” It is unlikely that she will make the White House her main residence.

“She has a mind of her own”

Her priorities lie elsewhere – namely in New York. That is where her 18-year-old son Barron is studying: “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 insider is certain. If Donald Trump is elected, Melania will attend mandatory appointments in the White House. She knows “what has to be done, but she has a mind of her own” and that will not change.

In fact, this was also the case with Melania’s rare political accents during Donald Trump’s term in office. For example, she opposed the “zero tolerance policy” at the border, which led to the US border police snatching children from migrants. Shortly after Melania’s protest, her husband ended this practice by decree. And during the current election campaign, she made it clear in her book “Melania” that she also has a different opinion than her husband on another issue. In it, she emphasizes her firm support for the right to abortion – which was massively restricted in the USA with the involvement of her husband.

Melania has always left the numerous affairs and scandals that characterized Trump’s first term in office uncommented. Melania has also remained staunchly silent on the allegations of sexual abuse or hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had a sex affair with Trump shortly after Barron was born. In keeping with the motto “I really don’t care”, which she once provoked during an appearance – and which was understood at the time as a response to criticism from the media.

The latter is one of the most obvious things the Trump couple have in common: their shared rejection of the traditional media and their constant attacks on journalism. In this context, both Donald and Melania Trump repeatedly speak of “fake news”, lying campaigns and incitement. When Melania wanted to promote her memoirs a few weeks ago, she only gave interviews to one medium: the right-wing populist US broadcaster Fox News – and it was there that Donald Trump was declared the winner on election night.

What will happen to Melania Trump in addition to the relocation plans remains to be seen. In recent weeks it has already been said that she wants to hire “bigger, better and more qualified staff” if her husband is in office for a second time. She now knows better what responsibility comes with the role of First Lady. “Melania does what Melania wants,” explained Mary Jordan, Pulitzer Prize winner and journalist for the Washington Post, among others. She wanted to “stand out from other First Ladies.”