Melania Trump Skips Town, Leaves Washington To Start Christmas Vacation In Mar-A-Lago As Shutdown Looms

Melania Trump apparently doesn’t have time for a shutdown.

As Donald Trump’s demand for funding for a border wall draws the country ever closer to a shutdown of the federal government, the first lady left Washington to start her Christmas vacation in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort as originally planned. As the Daily Mail noted, Donald Trump had already canceled plans for his Friday departure, remaining in Washington as he continued to demand that Democrats pass a measure that funded the border wall.

As the First Lady’s spokesperson said, the government shutdown wasn’t going to stop Melania from breaking holiday tradition to travel to the family’s luxury resort.

“It has long been the family’s tradition to spend their Christmas holiday at Mar-a-Lago. Her plans to travel with her son to their Florida home for his winter break have not changed this year,” said Melania’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham (via CNN).

Back in Washington, there appeared to be little headway in the impending shutdown. After signaling earlier in the week that he would sign a temporary funding measure that did not including funding for his border wall, Trump abruptly changed course and decided to reject the measure. Democrats have vowed not to offer any funding for the wall.

Reports indicated that Donald Trump planned a 16-day vacation to his Florida resort, where he spends most of his weekends in the winter and spring months, meeting with his wealthy friends and golfing.

Melania Trump departs for Mar-a-Lago as a shutdown looms https://t.co/v6A4AlESGw pic.twitter.com/sg1I2O05k3

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 22, 2018

This is not the first time that Melania Trump has done her own thing and left her husband behind. When Trump first moved into the White House, Melania remained in Manhattan for several months while Barron finished his school year. After some speculation that she may never move to Washington, Melania and Barron moved into the White House later that summer.

Melania has also used Mar-a-Lago as a refuge in difficult times as well. Back in March, as adult film star Stormy Daniels was set to give a primetime interview spilling details about her affair with Donald Trump just months after Barron was born, Melania remained at Mar-a-Lago for the spring break week while Donald Trump flew back to Washington.

As the New York Post noted, Melania Trump’s spokeswoman again cited tradition for that decision, saying that Melania always stayed with Barron at the resort for the spring break. The interview was seen as embarrassing for Melania, as Stormy Daniels publicly apologized to the first lady for the affair.