Melania Trump on her return to the White House: 'Standing on my own two feet'
WASHINGTON – During his first term, Donald Trump had already been president for five months when first lady Melania Trump finally moved into the White House.
For his second term, she’s preparing to arrive on Day 1.
The once and future first lady said during a recent television interview that she will move into the White House when her husband’s term begins on Jan. 20, despite speculation that she would spend a majority of the next four years either in New York City or Palm Beach, Florida, where the family’s Mar-a-Lago estate is located.
“I will be in the White House,” she said during the appearance on "Fox & Friends." “And, you know, when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on Jan. 20, you serve the country.”
Forgoing life in the White House would have been a striking departure from her predecessors, who moved into the executive mansion with their families even though some of them later spent significant time away while their husbands were in office.
Historians and other experts on the nation’s first ladies point out the role of the president’s spouse has evolved over the years and that, in an era when millions of Americans are working remotely, the first lady doesn’t need to be planted permanently at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to fulfill her obligations.
“Let’s remember, this is a unique first lady in the sense that she’s been there, she’s done the job,” said Anita McBride, who served as former first lady Laura Bush’s chief of staff.
Melania Trump “knows what it’s like to live in the White House, to work in the White House, knows what to expect,” McBride said. “The other important thing to remember is this position really is defined by each person that comes into it.”
Outgoing first lady Jill Biden helped reshape the role when she became the first presidential spouse in history to hold a job outside the White House. Jill Biden, who was a teacher before her husband was elected president, taught classes at Northern Virginia Community College during her four years as first lady.
Melania Trump, who had a successful modeling career before marrying her husband in 2005, likewise could forge her own path. She will be the subject of a new documentary that has been licensed by Amazon Prime Video for streaming and a movie theater release later this year. Melania Trump is listed as an executive producer of the project, which means she is likely to get a cut of the $40 million Amazon paid in licensing fees.
During her husband’s first term, Melania Trump did not officially move into the White House until June 2021. The first lady had chosen to remain in New York to give their teenage son, Barron, time to finish the school year.
Barron Trump is now 18 and in college at New York University's Stern School of Business, giving his mother more freedom to follow her own pursuits.
But even when she was in the White House, Melania Trump seemed at times like a reluctant first lady who bristled at the criticism and the harsh spotlight that comes with the job. During a trip to a detention center for migrant children in 2018, she famously wore a jacket emblazoned with a message on the back. “I really don’t care, do you?” it read.
She later acknowledged in a television interview that the message was intended “for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me. … I want to show them that I don’t care.”
“It was not her life goal to be first lady,” said Andrew Och, an author who a decade ago traveled the country for a C-SPAN series on America’s first ladies. “She had a perfectly fine life. I think the fact that she moved to D.C. at all and performed any of the duties speaks to the fact that she did understand the public perception of obligation.”
In her interview with "Fox & Friends," Melania Trump suggested she’s more prepared for the job this time.
“I feel I was always me the first time as well,” she said. “I just feel that people didn't accept me maybe. They didn't understand me the way maybe they do now. And I didn't have much support. Maybe some people, they see me as just a wife of the president, but I'm standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts. I have my own yes and no. I don't always agree what my husband is saying or doing. And that's OK.”
Melania Trump said she intends to expand the “Be Best” initiative she started during her husband’s first term. The public awareness campaign focused on major issues affecting young people and shed a spotlight cyberbullying.
Donald Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions about how much time Melania Trump plans to spend in Washington.
A job with social and political influence but no defined duties
Throughout history, first ladies have held significant social and political influence even though the job itself has no official duties defined in the Constitution. In the early days of the republic, the role was primarily one of hostess. And it wasn’t always filled by a presidential spouse.
James Buchanan, the only president to remain unmarried while he was in office, tapped his niece, Harriet Lane, to serve as White House hostess during his four-year term from 1857 to 1861. By all accounts, Lane excelled in the job, Och said.
“She was one of the most productive women to ever be in that role,” Och said. “She donated her art collection, which became the National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian. She started the children's ward at Johns Hopkins University, which is now one of the top medical facilities in the United States – in the world, really. She was just a fantastic hostess. Very well educated and smart and talented. She played the piano. She sang. She entertained guests in small gatherings and was loved in and around Washington, D.C.”
Going back further, Thomas Jefferson, a widower when he became president in 1801, called on his daughter, Patsy Jefferson Randolph, and future first lady Dolley Madison for help in handling White House social matters. Andrew Jackson, also a widower when he came to the White House in 1829, asked his niece, Emily Donelson, to take on hostess duties.
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Other first ladies, after moving into the White House, stayed away as much as possible.
Jacqueline Kennedy, who resented the press intrusion on her private life, spent a significant amount of time away from the White House during John F. Kennedy’s presidency from 1961 to 1963, traveling abroad as first lady or passing the weekends in northern Virginia’s horse country just outside of Washington.
Bess Truman, wife of Harry Truman, detested the pomp and circumstance of the White House and preferred the laid-back atmosphere of the family’s home in Independence, Missouri. She went back there as often as possible to be with her mother.
“That was just her favorite place to be,” said Katherine Jellison, a professor at Ohio University and an expert on America’s first ladies. “She moved into the White House but frequently was not there and instead was back with her card-playing group back in her hometown.”
During her absences from the White House, the Trumans’ daughter, Margaret Truman, an aspiring singer, filled in for her mother at social functions.
After her husband’s first term, Melania Trump stayed mostly out of the spotlight. During last year’s presidential contest, she rarely appeared on the campaign trail but did show up for key moments like the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden one week before the election.
She will have a small East Wing staff that can take care of some of daily duties of the first lady’s office, which will give her the freedom to decide when she wants to be in Washington.
“I think she’ll show up when needed," Och said. "And when it counts."
Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.