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Melania Trump‘s sporadic appearances on Donald Trump‘s campaign trail have sparked lots of interest in their personal lives. While the former first lady has always been a reluctant public figure, she’s become more reclusive since exiting the White House in 2021. Some political watchers believe she’s still mourning the death of her mother, Amalija Knavs, who passed away in January, but Melania’s former BFF and senior adviser, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, believes there is more to the story.
“Let me bottom line this for you. Perception is everything to the Trump Family so Donald’s lack of ‘chivalry’ towards Melania is quite a ‘tell,’” she wrote on X on Sunday. “Chivalry for Donald was waiting for Melania to go first & ensuring she walked by his side. He’s been doing neither recently. Take a 👀.” Wolkoff attached a video clip with older footage that shows the former president displaying affection toward his wife. He grabbed her hand, let Melania walk ahead, and then gently placed his hand on the small of her back.
The montage continues with recent footage of Donald Trump and Melania with a noticeable gap between them and his lack of acknowledgment of her presence. He walks ahead and lets Melania trail behind him. The Melania and Me author had plenty of her followers agreeing with her. One X user noted, “he treats her like the help.” Another added, “He has never been chivalrous…” But there were also some commenters asking Wolkoff to give the Trump family some grace after the death of Knavs.
“People read too much into things. This family has been put through hell by the media and the court system. She also just lost her mother,” the user sympathetically shared. “Her heart is not into this right now. She would rather be home, but she is there for her husband.” But Melania has never taken a traditional path when it comes to her marriage or her former first lady role — she is what first lady expert Kate Andersen Brower described to The New York Times as “radical” in her approach. “She’s the most obviously unknowable first lady,” she said, “First ladies are expected to want to please people and I’m not sure she really cares.”
That level of care may also include not sharing her husband’s political ambitions, Melania prefers to stay behind the walls of Mar-a-Lago and not interact with anyone outside of her close circle. With her son, Barron, 17, about to graduate from high school, that could change, but it may not change the dynamic of her relationship with Donald Trump. They seem to enjoy their lives independent of each other.
Before you go, click here to see the best presidential love stories in U.S. history.
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