The mystery of Melania: Where is Donald Trump’s wife?

It’s been more than a year since Donald Trump announced his 2024 presidential run, and his wife has not hit the campaign trail once. Here’s why.

In November last year at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Donald Trump confirmed the worst-kept secret in American politics: he was running to retake the White House.

At the end of his speech, the former president was joined on stage by his wife Melania, who smiled and waved to the crowd. That brief appearance is more notable now, more than 12 months later, because it remains her only step on to the 2024 campaign trail.

The former first lady has avoided the rallies, fairs and photo opportunities frequented by her husband in his quest for the Republican nomination, not to mention his four trips to state and federal courts to be arrested on 91 criminal charges that have rocked the election race.

So where is Melania Trump?

Melania Trump with her husband after he announced his 2024 presidential campaign. Picture: Alon Skuy (AFP)

The former model was already an enigma during Mr Trump’s years in office, with everything from her body language to her fashion dissected for clues on her views about her spouse. Her absence from the spotlight since then has only heightened the mystery of Melania.

Rumours have long persisted that Mrs Trump – who married the real estate mogul in 2005 – has been an unhappy conscript in his political career, ever since they descended the golden escalator in New York’s Trump Tower to announce his first presidential run in 2015.

After his victory over Hillary Clinton, a result that surprised even Mr Trump himself, his wife delayed her move into the White House for five months. Mrs Trump was bruised by a campaign dominated by revelations of his sexual infidelities and indiscretions, although she also wanted to renegotiate their prenuptial agreement to protect her and their son Barron.

As America’s first lady, Mrs Trump prioritised her “Be Best” agenda to support children’s wellbeing, improve online safety and tackle opioid abuse.

But her public appearances were limited – her Secret Service codename was Rapunzel because she rarely left her tower – and she tended to spark more headlines in unscripted moments, by glaring at her husband or refusing to hold his hand. Infamously, on a trip to a detention centre for migrant children, she wore a jacket that said “I don’t really care, do U?”.

Mrs Trump kept a low profile during the 2020 campaign, and on the night of the election, her chief of staff Stephanie Grisham found her asleep while the votes were being counted.

Melania Trump’s infamous jacket emblazoned with the words “I don’t really care, do U?”. Picture: Mandel Ngan (AFP)

Then on January 6, while her husband’s supporters invaded the US Capitol, the first lady supervised a photo shoot of a new rug at the White House. Grisham sent her a text asking if she wanted to tweet that there was “no place for lawlessness and violence”. Mrs Trump – who later claimed to be unaware of the extent of the violence – replied: “No.”

The conventional wisdom in the wake of January 6 was that her husband’s political career was dead. And yet, almost three year slater, Mr Trump now has a seemingly insurmountable lead over his Republican rivals for the party’s nomination to take on Joe Biden next year.

It took six months after he announced his candidacy for Mrs Trump to make her first and only comments on his 2024 run, telling Fox News: “He has my support.”

“We look forward to restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength,” she said.

Barron Trump with his parents in 2019. Picture: Chip Somodevilla (Getty Images)

Despite Mr Trump’s requests, she has refused to appear at campaign events – and his rivals have noticed. When he attended a football game in Iowa, the first state to vote on the Republican nominee next month, a plane with a “Where’s Melania?” banner flew overhead.

The former president promises his “very private” wife will join him soon, although he said in a recent interview: “Honestly, I like to keep her away from it – it’s so nasty and so mean.”

Mrs Trump – who is 24 years younger than her husband – prefers to spend her days with her parents, some old friends, and the 17-year-old Barron during his final year of school.

In September, the New York Post revealed she had again renegotiated her prenup to protect herself and Barron in the face of Mr Trump’s mounting legal bills, a USD $5m (AUD $7.6m) damages payout to a woman who accused him of sexual abuse, and a potential USD $250m (AUD $381m) civil fraud fine.

Unlike other former first ladies – who she joined last week, dressed in grey, at the funeral for former president Jimmy Carter’s wife Rosalynn – Mrs Trump has eschewed making her own millions by writing books and giving speeches. Mrs Trump’s sole money-making venture is selling non-fungible tokens – digital trading cards marking everything from Independence Day to the moon landing.

Melania Trump keeps her distance from other first ladies at the funeral for former president Jimmy Carter’s wife Rosalynn. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds (AFP)

Her views only tend to emerge publicly in the speeches of the former president, such as when he launched into his campaign rally routine of mocking transgender weightlifters and swimmers last month and then revealed Mrs Trump had warned him it was “not presidential”.

“Technically, she’s probably right,” he told supporters in Iowa, “but what the hell?”

At another event, he recalled her reaction to the claims in a disputed spy dossier that he hired sex workers in Russia to perform “golden showers”.

“That one she didn’t believe because she said, ‘He’s a germaphobe, he’s not into that’,” Mr Trump said. “I thought that would be a big problem, I was going to have a rough night, but that one she was very good on.”

Two words in Mr Trump’s retelling – “that one” – suggest his wife is not always so willing to forgive his misdeeds. But that is merely an assumption. As the former president’s adviser Kellyanne Conway told the New York Times: “I know few people as comfortable in their own skin as Melania Trump … Melania keeps them guessing, and they keep guessing wrong.”

Originally published as The mystery of Melania: Where is Donald Trump’s wife?