Melania: The Wild Card
What’s her game? Does anybody know?
This is the first installment of a series about the strangest marriage in the history of the United States presidency. Like so much in Trumpworld, it hides in plain sight, beyond reason and explanation. Trump, the life-long womanizer and narcissist, may have long believed he could minimize and finely compartmentalize his personal life, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t yet going to bite him in the ass.
Everybody in the White House is afraid of Melania Trump and her power—that is, if she chooses to use it.
They largely think she won’t, or at least won’t use it so obviously enough to directly threaten the palace, but they can’t be sure. At the same time, they think that the relationship between the president and his wife is probably at its lowest point since the Stormy Daniels trial—and that was very low.
What’s more, the development of Melania striking out on her own for profit and recognition—with her own advisors, business development team, and net profit windfall ($17 million in 2025 and estimates for two or three times that in 2026)—introduces a whole new avenue of uncertainty about her plans and intentions.
Trump and his wife barely speak. There is hardly even the pretense that she lives in the White House. Every appearance is a negotiated one. In the first Trump White House there were at least a few close Trump advisors, most notably Kellyanne Conway, who maintained good relations with the first lady. Now there are none.
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