President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s marriage is allegedly on its last legs, according to eagle-eyed pundits who closely follow the couple. Those who have had an interest in their personal lives since the politician’s controversial first term will know that his better half has often shunned his attempts at indulging in PDA.
In fact, the first sign of trouble in paradise allegedly came in 2017 when Melania swatted Trump’s hand away in public during their visit to Israel. According to The List, things haven’t changed much since then. To make matters worse, Melania openly ignored Trump’s attempts to hold her hand during the White House Halloween festivities this October.
Melania swatting or hiding her hand from Trump through the years. pic.twitter.com/1Hl5eIvm4B https://t.co/skUJGvbvzb
— LESLIE SCOTT (@Leslieannscott) January 19, 2025
In a clip from the event, he is seen trying to reach for his wife’s hand, only to be left high and dry. Trump’s comments about French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron’s alleged tiff, too, suggest that all may not be well in the U.S First Couple’s household.
In case you did not know, France’s First Couple got into what appeared to be a heated spat while exiting their airplane earlier this year in May. In a video, Brigitte– who was not in the frame– allegedly punched her husband’s face.
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On being asked to comment on the fiasco, Trump advised his counterpart to ‘make sure the door remains closed’. And this seems to be the formula the Trumps follow in their personal lives as they have seemingly sorted out their differences privately and without giving netizens a field day.
However, the gossip mills claim that their marriage is a full-blown mess when the cameras aren’t rolling.
According to the rumor mills, Trump and Melania don’t share the bed. In fact, the situation is seemingly so irreparable that they make it a point not to even sleep in the same room.
The theory has some credence to it, as in her book ‘Free, Melania: The Unauthorized Biography,’ CNN correspondent Katie Bennett stated that Trump usually stays in the master bedroom on the second floor while Melania uses a bedroom on the third floor.
This, however, is not the only juicy bit of gossip about their marital woes. Trump and Melania are said to have ‘separate lives’ when not in public. In fact, Trump biographer Michael Wolff told The Daily Beast that they are a couple only on paper, as they hardly interact with each other.
“They clearly do not inhabit a marriage as we define marriage. They live separate lives. They are separated. The marriage is crumbling,” he said.
To make matters murkier, the grapevine suggests that the marriage is ‘purely transactional’. According to Melania’s former senior advisor and best friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the marriage has benefited both parties to some extent.
According to her, Melania became Trump’s ‘arm candy,’ and this benefited her career as a model.
”I do believe it’s a transactional marriage,” Wolkoff opined at the time. “Donald got arm candy […] and Melania got two dynamic decades [as a model],” she said.
It is not uncommon for couples to set aside their differences to co-parent children. However, this hardly seems to be the case with the Trumps. In fact, coldly speaking, they weren’t quite a tag team during Barron’s formative years. In 2005, months after marrying Melania, the future president had clearly stated on ‘Larry King Live’ that he had no plans of being a hands-on father.
“Now, I know Melania. I’m not going to be doing the diapers. I’m not going to be making the food. I may never even see the kids,” he said.
Trump, in his trademark casual manner, also made it clear that the marriage was not exactly a priority for him.
“I work very hard from early in the morning till late in the evening. I don’t want to go home and work in a relationship,” he said.
Given this, one can’t help but wonder if it’s only a matter of time till the president and Melania formally end their marriage and move on.
