After Donald Trump was elected president the first time, Melania Trump delayed her move to the White House until June 2017, either to wait until her son finished the school year or improve the terms of her prenup, depending on whom you ask. This time? She may not be moving at all.
CNN reports that Melania is “unlikely to move to Washington full-time in her second go-around as first lady,” according to multiple sources. Instead, she is “expected to spend a majority of her time over the next four years not at the White House, but between New York City and Palm Beach, Florida.” Despite apparently wanting to spend as little time as possible at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, sources told the outlet that Melania will show up for major events and have an official platform and priorities.
While not moving to the White House full-time would be a major break with tradition, that Melania would potentially make such a move should come as little surprise. When her husband campaigned for president a third time, she was effectively absent on the campaign trail, attending only his initial announcement that he was running, the Madison Square Garden rally the weekend before Election Day, and his election night party. When he was president the first time, she made it pretty clear she did not enjoy the first lady gig, as evidenced by the infamous “who gives a f–k about Christmas” tape; the reports that she was “miserable” and “very, very unhappy with her life”; and the huge grin on her face when she disembarked in Palm Beach on January 20, 2021. As a source told People later that year, “She was relieved when her husband’s term ended.” Said another, of a then prospective 2024 run by Trump, “If he runs, I doubt she will be involved at all. If he should win, that would be the worst-case scenario for her.”
Melania has already skipped out on one major first lady tradition: meeting with outgoing first lady Jill Biden while her husband sits down with the current president. According to CNN, “after Jill Biden extended the invitation, there was discussion about the incoming first lady’s attendance, with members of Donald Trump’s team making clear that it was important for her to go.” Sources told the outlet there was a scheduling conflict related to Melania’s book; on Wednesday, her office confirmed she would not be making the visit, cryptically adding that “several unnamed sources in the media” had “provide[d] false, misleading, and inaccurate information,” without saying what that false, misleading, and inaccurate information was.
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