Melania Trump rarely visits the White House, report says

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on May 8, 2025

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Melania Trump has reportedly spent fewer than two weeks in the White House since President Donald Trump began serving his second term in office on Jan. 20.

While she’s been photographed at highly publicized events like April’s White House Easter Egg Roll, sightings of the enigmatic first lady in Washington, D.C. have been rare in the 109 days her husband has been in office, according to The New York Times.

The corner residence long designated for the wives of the nation’s presidents reportedly remains empty and dark most of the time. Melania is believed to split her time between Trump Tower in Manhattan and the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in south Florida.

The couple’s son, Barron Trump, attends classes at NYU. The president often spends weekend at Mar-a-Lago, though it’s unclear how often he and Melania are together there.

The 55-year-old former model from Slovenia has staffers in the White House’s East Wing, where she’s reportedly rarely seen.

The first lady’s absence is “among the most sensitive of subjects” in the White House, according to the Times. Some officials reportedly said she’s present more than the public knows, while others said that claims she’s spent even two weeks in the West Wing are “generous.”

It’s not unusual for the Trumps to live separate lives. Melania attended none of her husband’s criminal or civil court proceeding in between his two presidencies, and rarely joined him on the campaign trail. When Trump first came to office in 2017, she took a full six months to join him in the nation’s capital.

Ivana Trump, the first of the president’s three wives, told The Hill in 2020 that she isn’t sure if Melania is doing a good job as the first lady.

“She’s very quiet, and she really doesn’t go to too many places,” Ivana said. “She goes to stuff when she has to go.”

Ivana seemed to maintain a cordial relationship with the president, with whom she shares three children, before her death in 2022.