Melania Trump indicated she intends to live mostly at the White House when she returns to Washington as first lady next Monday, dismissing speculation she might split time between other residences.
When Donald Trump first took office in 2017, his wife did not immediately join him at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but instead remained in New York until their 11-year-old son Barron completed the school year.
“I will be in the White House,” Melania Trump told the “Fox & Friends” program in an interview that aired Monday. “And when I need to be in New York, I’ll be in New York. And when I need to be in Palm Beach, I’ll be in Palm Beach.”
Trump is known to live in his lavish Manhattan apartment in Trump Tower as well as the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Melania Trump was absent from Donald Trump’s side during much of the 2024 campaign, as well as during his New York trial, in which he was convicted on 34 felony counts.
But as the election campaign ended and Trump emerged victorious, he raised his public profile.
Once again as First Lady, Melania Trump says she plans to expand her “Be the Best” campaign to support the well-being of children, a somewhat obscure cause she mentioned during her husband’s first term. It was publicized only sporadically during this period.
“I will continue Be Best and expand Be Best,” she said on the Fox program.
She will also release a film about herself, based on the October publication of her remarkably brief memoir, “Melania.”
He said that the idea of making a film based on everyday life and returning to the White House was his own.
“My life is incredible, it’s incredibly busy, and I said to my agent, you know I have this idea, so please go out and make me a deal.”
Returning to the role, Melania Trump said her top priorities are: “Being a mother, being first lady, being a wife.”
Barron, now in college in New York, would “come and visit,” he said.
But otherwise the White House will be occupied only by the couple.
“Maybe some people, they just see me as the president’s wife, but I’m standing on my own feet, independent,” Melania Trump said. She added, “I don’t always agree with what my husband is saying or doing.”
“I give him my advice, and sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t, and that’s OK.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
