Melania Trump Has Proved She Wears The Pants In Her Marriage With Donald More Than Once

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Many argue that Melania Trump is wildly out of Donald Trump's league, and we're inclined to agree. Not only do the Trumps have a sizable age gap, but they don't seem to be in each other's presence all that much, and this is apparently mostly the first lady's doing. Melania has demonstrated on more than one occasion that she wears the pants in her marriage, and her devil-may-care attitude has continued into her husband's second presidential term. Word on the street is that, since Donald has re-entered the White House, the first lady has barely spent 14 days there. She had a good excuse for her prolonged absence from the presidential residence during her husband's first term — the couple's son, Barron Trump, was still going to school in New York at the time, and needed his mother's support. 

Now, with Barron being an adult attending university, the first lady has run out of excuses (not that she's making them). In fact, she seems perfectly happy to pop in and out of her husband's life as she pleases. Of course, pundits are taking notice, with historian and first lady expert Katherine Jellison telling the New York Times, "We haven't seen such a low-profile first lady since Bess Truman, and that's going way back in living human memory, nearly 80 years ago."

Furthermore, an inside source confirmed to People that Melania has no future plans to play a more active role as first lady either. "She doesn't believe she has obligations in the political world," they claimed. "Anything she may do in this administration will happen if she has the time and interest to pursue it." Another source added, "[Melania] couldn't care less how she looks politically." Donald might be the commander in chief, but his wife is in charge of their marriage. 

Melania Trump does what she wants when she wants, and she's the first one to say it. In fact, when Fox News asked the former model what she had planned for her second tenure as first lady, Melania acknowledged, "My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife." It's worth noting that "wife" was last on that list. She also made it abundantly clear that President Donald Trump's opinions and actions don't necessarily reflect her own. "I'm standing on my own two feet; independent," Melania stated proudly. "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 okay." We wonder how Donald felt about this statement. 

While her absence from the White House remains a key talking point, Melania is living her best life. She's shooting a documentary, some of which actually required her to be there (that's probably what made up most of those 14 days she's spent in Washington D.C.). The rest of the time she's reportedly been at Mar-a-Lago, with an insider telling People, "She leads her own life and joins him [the president] when appropriate in either place."

In May 2025, the first lady made another rare appearance at the White House as her husband signed the Take It Down Act; legislation that Melania had a hand in introducing. It aimed to tackle the abundance of sexual exploitation on the internet and was, arguably, the most sensible piece of legislation that the president has signed since he retook office. It should come as no surprise that his better half is the one who came up with it. 

Melania Trump is reportedly quite fond of Elon Musk, but not for the reasons you might think. If sources are to be believed, the former model considers the controversial tech billionaire an excellent babysitter — for her husband, that is. The best part? He works for free. Ahead of Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration, Melania informed Fox News, "I will be in the White House. And 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." It seems Palm Beach is, thus far, the first lady's favorite place to be (or perhaps it's just anywhere her husband isn't?). 

It should therefore come as no surprise that Melania has no qualms about Donald and Elon Musk's bromance, because whenever the Tesla CEO is around, she can take a break from watching him. "Melania is glad to have a babysitter for Donald, and she will find some kind of project to team up with him [Musk] herself if he stays around," one source divulged to People. Another added, "Melania is glad to have her husband busy with his work, and so far Musk is part of that mindset." Some Reddit users expressed their concern that the president of the United States' wife considers him in need of a babysitter while others thought this little tidbit was simply more proof of Melania's obvious disdain for her husband. 

Donald Trump is a man who likes to have more of everything in life, including children. Unfortunately for him, Melania Trump had no desire to be a mother of two. The first lady revealed this interesting little wrinkle during an appearance on "Fox & Friends," recalling, "I was always perfectly fine with one and Donald was encouraging to have more, and I said I'm completely fine with one." Her reasoning was simply that she already leads such a busy life, but the former model also briefly hinted that it was because she did most of the heavy lifting raising Barron Trump. As Melania pointed out, "I know how busy he [Donald] is, and I'm in charge of everything," confirming what many have suspected all along — she's the boss lady in the marriage.

Donald's reputation precedes him when it comes to his involvement, or rather lack thereof, in his children's lives. The divisive politician's second wife, fellow former model Marla Maples, didn't mince words during an interview with People, making it clear that she raised Tiffany Trump all on her own, and Donald paid the bills. "Her daddy is a good provider with education and such, but as far as time, it was just me," Maples said. "Her father wasn't able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent. He loves his kids. There's no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation."

As far as negotiations are concerned, it seems that Melania outsmarts her husband in this department, and her resolve to stick to having just one child serves as proof. Perhaps she read "The Art of the Deal" before marrying him, or maybe she's busy writing her own take.

Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't get to show any public displays of affection towards his wife without her express permission. Melania Trump has repeatedly snubbed Donald's PDA efforts — even when she knew cameras were trained on the first couple. Take the 2025 inauguration ceremony, for example. Donald eagerly leaned in for a kiss, and his wife turned her cheek away far enough that his lips managed to touch nothing but thin air. A similar moment occurred during Donald's victory speech in November 2024. Body language expert Darren Stanton asserted in an interview with Express that their relationship appeared ice cold — but not from both sides. "If you look at Melania, most people would reciprocate [physical affection]. There's no emotion coming from her," Stanton observed, adding, "He [Donald] is doing all the work here." 

Sometimes, however, she does allow for some affection from her husband. A photograph of the president walking with his arm around his wife as they readied to board Marine One to attend Pope Francis' funeral went viral for exactly this reason. It's rare to see the two appearing all loved up, so the Trumps made headlines once again after Melania held Donald's hand during the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll. She even allowed him to plant a real kiss on her cheek this time around. Either Melania really isn't a fan of PDA or she's not that big a fan of her husband showing affection specifically. Regardless, she sure makes him work hard for it proving, once again, that she wears the pants.