Melania Trump’s initial months as First Lady in her and her husband’s second term at the White House have been quite the mystery. As well as stating that she wouldn’t be living full-time at the White House, Melania decided to leave the spotlight for a few weeks while working on her upcoming Amazon documentary.
But even though the First Lady has previously clarified that her second term will be different to how the first looked, many have questioned why she hasn’t been at her husband’s side. On social media, fans have aired their disappointment, with one claiming that it’s ‘getting worse every day.’
That Melania Trump would approach her second term as First Lady in a different manner to the four first years she spent at the White House was perhaps not a big surprise. Even before Donald Trump announced that he was running for office again, it was rumored that his wife wasn’t even interested in ever occupying the First Lady’s office again. Things changed, and now, the former model is back in the East Wing.
When Melania first became First Lady in 2016, many feared she wasn’t up to the challenge. She told Fox that people “didn’t accept” her or “didn’t understand” her the first time, and she subsequently didn’t receive much support.
“Maybe some people they see me as just the wife of the president, but I’m standing on my own to fit, independent. I have my own thoughts, I have my own yes and no. I don’t always agree what my husband is saying or doing, and that’s okay,” Melania added.
Though Melania was away from Washington—and the spotlight—for quite a while following her husband’s Inauguration, she returned to the White House for the Governors Ball in late February.
Melania Trump
Over the last month, she has split her time between the Trump family’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and the White House. However, a People Magazine source said Melania hasn’t been in the capitol on official First Lady duties.
“[Donald and Melania] both live at Mar-a-Lago and have quarters in the White House,” the source said. “But she leads her own life and joins him when appropriate in either place,” adding that when she is in Palm Beach, she “keeps to herself” but does accompany Donald to dinner “on occasion.”
During her first term at the White House, Melania focused heavily on her Be Best campaign, aiming to help children fight bullying. The Slovenian-born former model told Fox in January that she hopes to expand the awareness campaign further in the next few years.
“I didn’t have much support from anyone. I invited all of the streaming platforms to the White House,” Melania stated. “I had the roundtable, and I didn’t have much support from them. And imagine what we could do in those years if they will rally behind me and teach the children and protect them about social media and their mental health.”
It’s said that Donald and Melania had their fair share of arguments when they lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the first time around. In January, Melania appeared on Fox & Friends to give some insight into her and Donald’s union and what to expect when they entered the White House for a second time.
“Maybe some people they see me as just the wife of the president, but I’m standing on my own to fit, independent. I have my own thoughts, I have my own yes and no. I don’t always agree what my husband is saying or doing, and that’s okay,” Melania added.
New book claims Melania Trump ‘hates’ her husband
It’s hard to say precisely how Donald and Melania are doing, and the speculation is inconclusive to say the least. But now, author Michael Wolff, who has written several critical books about the president, claims in his new book All or Nothing that Melania has no feelings left for her husband.
According to the book, Wolff, who may be considered Donald Trump’s least favorite biographer, claims that Melania has no interest in living day-to-day near her husband.
“She f***ing hates him”, a “Mar-a-Lago patio confidant,” is said to have told Wolff.
Melania has previously stated that she will not live at the White House full-time during her second term as First Lady. Instead, she will split her days between Washington, New York – where she will spend time with her son, Barron – and Palm Beach, Florida, where the Trumps lived at their Mar-a-Lago estate after their first White House exit.
Wolff wrote more about Donald and Melania’s marriage in All or Nothing. He described how Melania reportedly laughed at her husband’s presidential campaign’s effort “to get her to accompany her husband” on the trail. She wasn’t seen on the campaign trail once, except in the last months.
“Since the first indictment in New York, when Melania had simply laughed at the campaign’s effort to get her to accompany her husband (‘Nice try’), it had been clear that she wasn’t going to show up. During the past year, she had yet to make a single campaign appearance. In only one instance in 2023 did she even appear on the plane—and then only hitching a ride. Magically, the Melania issue had not, in the White House years nor the Mar-a-Lago years—with both staffers and press quite aware of the Trumps’ nontraditional living arrangements and their careful distance from each other— become an issue,” Wolff wrote.
“She doesn’t live with him”
“Melania continued to be an additional freak-out, absolutely refusing every entreaty to speak or even to appear side by side with her husband. He had never faced point-blank questions from the media about their relationship. But what if ‘Where’s Melania?’ started now in earnest?” he continued.
“But that was all before the shooting…now the attempt on Trump’s life not only made him again incontrovertibly the central figure of the moment, if not the age, giving him a maximum hero’s electoral mantle, but it also repositioned his convention as the joyous and abject coronation of which he dreamed.”
So, how much distance does Melania allegedly want to keep from her husband? According to Wolff, Trump’s campaign staff “didn’t even know where Melania lived.”
When appearing on the Daily Beast’s podcast, Wolff explained: “She doesn’t live with him. They spend very little time together. Whenever she’s at the White House or at Mar-a-Lago, it’s like she’s a guest. She basically lives in Trump Tower now.”
Wolff concluded that at the Republican National Convention, Melania “would not sit next to him … Her one appearance on the last day was contingent on him not being in the VIP box”.
Of course, not everyone agrees with Wolff’s claims in All or Nothing. Donald Trump has previously threatened to sue authors, the media, and other publishers for using anonymous sources.
Where has the First Lady been?
Neither the president nor Melania has commented openly on Wolff’s claims. However, Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, was clear about his opinion of the author.
“Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s*** and has been proven to be a fraud. He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain,” Cheung told Newsweek.
When Melania returned to the spotlight in February, many likely assumed that it marked the resumption of her public life as First Lady. That hasn’t really been the case.
It didn’t take long before Melania made herself absent again, with reports suggesting that she’s away working on her Amazon documentary. She announced the plans for her new documentary just weeks before her husband’s Inauguration.
Besides the documentary, which will be released in theaters later this year, a follow-up documentary series is reportedly also being produced. As per Puck News, three people familiar with the deal said it’s worth $40 million in licensing. The project began filming in December 2024 and will be released in theaters and on the streaming platform in the second half of 2025.
“Prime Video will be sharing more details on the project as filming progresses and release plans are finalized,” Amazon said in a statement. “We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world.”
Melania’s absence was ‘getting worse everyday’
Melania appeared on Fox & Friends in early January to discuss the project. She explained that her memoir was “such a success” that she felt people would love to hear more from her.
“So I had an idea to make a movie, to make a film about my life. My life is incredible. It’s incredibly busy and I told my agent I have this idea so please go out and make a deal for me. We started the production in November and we are shooting right now. So it’s a day-to-day life. What I’m doing, what kind of responsibilities I have, people they don’t really know and they will see it,” Melania told Fox.
“It’s day-to-day from transition team to moving to the White House, packing, establishing my team, the First Lady office, moving into the White House. What it takes to make the residents your home, to hire the people that you need.”
Melania’s absence has not only given birth to a whole host of questions regarding her role as First Lady – but also the state of her marriage to Donald. Conspiracy theories have been thrown around online, and social media users appear to have credible concerns.
As per the Irish Star, speculation over her whereabouts has been a growing topic online in recent weeks, with one person asking, “Where is Melania? Is Trump even still married?”
Another wrote, “I have lost count how many people have been asking Where Melania is on X and it’s getting worse everyday, why is Melania constantly going missing all the time and having people keep asking where she is!”
Melania Trump returns to the spotlight
For those wondering, Melania returned to the spotlight on April 1. She appeared in a leopard-print dress at the Women of Courage Award Ceremony, where she was met with loud cheers and applause.
The award, established by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2007, “recognizes women from around the world who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership — often at great personal risk and sacrifice,” according to the State Department.
According to The Hill, this year’s award recipients included National Human Rights Commission President Henriette Da, Papua New Guinea activist Major Velena Iga, former Hamas hostage Amit Soussana, South Sudanese women’s rights leader Zabib Musa Loro Bakhit, Sri Lankan journalist Namini Wijedasa, Yemeni detainees advocate Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj, Romanian disabilities rights activist Georgiana Pascu, and marine conservationist Angelique Songco.
Melania delivered a remark at the ceremony, saying: “Love has inspired me to embrace forgiveness, nurture empathy, and exhibit bravery in the face of unforeseen obstacles.”
“Today, we celebrate courage — a strength that is based in love,”
Melania went on: “We are honored to join an exceptional assembly of brave women who have shown their love and refuse to let fear or hardship define them. Their collective achievements and dedication move us all.”
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