First Lady Melania Trump has taken a surprising stance that’s drawing attention in Washington: she continues to spend much less time living at the White House during her husband’s second term, opting instead to divide her time between New York City and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
The disclosure has ignited debate over the unorthodox living arrangement at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with insiders saying the President and First Lady lead largely separate lives across the capital, Manhattan, and Florida.
According to several accounts, Melania Trump appears to have spent fewer than 14 days at the White House since President Trump’s January 2025 inauguration. She frequently disappears from public view for extended stretches, reportedly staying in Trump Tower or at Mar-a-Lago.
Author Michael Wolff, known for books about the Trump years, set off controversy with his stark take on the couple’s marriage. “They clearly do not in any way inhabit a marriage as we define marriage,” Wolff said on The Daily Beast podcast.
The White House forcefully rejected Wolff’s depiction. Communications Director Steven Cheung labeled the claims “blatant lies and fabrications,” calling Wolff “a blithering idiot” who leads “a miserable existence devoid of reality.”
Despite official denials, those close to the situation describe a first lady who has intentionally built a life outside conventional expectations. People familiar with her schedule say Melania Trump’s locations are a sensitive subject within the administration.
The setup is not entirely new for the Trumps. In the president’s first term, Melania postponed moving into the White House for months, remaining in New York with their son Barron so he could complete the school year, and even kept a separate bedroom at the White House while she occasionally lived there.
With Barron now 19 and a sophomore at New York University’s Stern School of Business—taking classes on Stern’s Washington, D.C. campus—Melania Trump appears to have chosen to split her time among several homes. An anonymous source said D.C. was always seen by her as temporary.
The first lady’s limited public appearances have coincided with her involvement in a documentary about her life, titled “Melania,” which opened in theaters on January 30, 2026, and began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on March 9, 2026. Directed by Brett Ratner, the film covers the 20 days before the President’s second inauguration and includes footage from the White House, Mar-a-Lago, and New York.
Sources say Melania Trump was deeply unsettled by the assassination attempts on her husband during the 2024 campaign, which influenced where she chooses to stay. The couple also spent time apart during difficult episodes—Melania notably did not attend her husband’s Manhattan trial, where he was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Before the inauguration, Melania told Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt about her plans for the second term. “I will be in the White House. 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,” she said, adding that her primary focus was “to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.”
Donald and Melania Trump lived together in New York City for many years before his political rise. Trump was raised in Jamaica Estates in Queens, while Melania moved to Manhattan from Europe in 1996 to pursue modeling, and the couple later shared a residence at Trump Tower. That New York connection remains strong as she maintains a presence in the city.
The matter has also reached the courts. Michael Wolff sued Melania Trump in New York in October 2025, alleging she threatened him with a $1 billion defamation suit over his reporting. The lawsuit has prompted questions about her legal residency and where she actually spends most of her time—issues with potential consequences beyond celebrity gossip.
Paolo Zampolli, the former modeling agent who introduced the pair in 1998, defended the first lady’s dedication to her role. “She loves the White House. And she loves the role of serving as our first lady,” Zampolli told The New York Times.
Officials in the Trump administration say Melania Trump appears at the White House “more often than the public knows,” but they declined to share specific details about her schedule or how frequently she is in residence.
