Person of the week: Melania Trump
Is Melania Trump getting a divorce?
By Wolfram Weimer
18.06.2024, 09:44
She could ruin Donald Trump politically and financially – at any time. It is therefore no wonder that US media are following Melania Trump’s relationship with her husband in minute detail. Her silence on the presidential candidate’s 78th birthday is fueling wild rumors.
Donald Trump celebrated his 78th birthday in Florida – with the “biggest birthday party of my life”. Thousands wanted to congratulate him personally, and since Trump needs money, he made well-wishers pay. Around 5,000 guests came to the party in the Convention Center in West Palm Beach, and had to buy tickets for $35. To be closer to the stage, they even paid $60. The hall quickly sold out. The well-wishers heard a short speech, released red and blue balloons and admired a super-kitschy giant cake on a gold base. It featured various patriotic quotes and pictures, including the slogan “Born in the USA on Flag Day”, a model of Trump playing golf and a “MAGA” (Make America Great Again) baseball cap made of marzipan on top.
Married for 20 years: Melania and Donald Trump.
(Photo: picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Trump received tens of thousands of congratulations, many prominent Republicans and businesspeople were there – even rival and US President Joe Biden sent him on X an ironic birthday greetingto counter Trump’s attacks on Biden’s age: “Happy 78th birthday, Donald. Take it from one old man to another: age is just a number.”
Even his own family – as always – rained down media congratulations. “Happy Birthday Dad! I love you today and every day!” tweeted Ivanka, along with a photo of the two of them walking through the White House. On Instagram, she shared several pictures, including a childhood photo in which she is holding her father’s hand. Whether son or daughter-in-law or grandchild or extended family – everyone used the birthday to give a wide-ranging social media happy birthday shoutout. His four oldest children celebrated Trump with glimpses into the family album. “All the best to this warrior,” wrote Eric Trump on Instagram.
A humiliating process
Only Trump’s wife Melania disappeared and remained silent. The 54-year-old regularly posts messages on her social media channels – family birthday greetings are also common. But this time she remained audibly silent.
This is now fueling rumors in the USA that Melania Trump wants to divorce Donald. Melania particularly felt that the recent scandal involving hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels was the final public humiliation. Daniels had revealed in court saucy details about her affair with Donald Trump. The infidelity happened at the same time that Melania had just given birth to their son Barron. At the same time, Trump is alleged to have paid to cover up another affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal while Melania was pregnant.
Melania Trump – unlike the rest of the family – did not come to New York to be with her husband during the trial, which might have helped him. Trump, on the other hand, sent his wife public congratulations on her birthday in April. During his trial, he said to the cameras: “First of all, I want to wish my wife Melania a happy birthday. It would be nice to be with her.” There was no reaction from the former First Lady. The statement by Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen must also have had a humiliating effect. He asked Trump at the time how the affair might affect his marriage to his wife Melania. Trump replied: “Don’t worry. How long do you think I’ll be on the market? Not long.”
Always recognizable distance
After the spectacular trial in New York, the birthday would have been an opportunity for Melania to once again declare her support for Donald Trump.
But she is demonstratively distancing herself. And Stormy Daniels’ public request to Melania Trump is widely quoted virally: “I don’t know what they agreed to or didn’t agree to, but Melania has to leave him. Not because of what he did to me or other women, but because he is a convicted criminal. He is proven to be abusive; he was convicted of sexual assault and tax fraud and is now a criminal.”
The Trumps have now been married for almost 20 years, and rumors of a divorce have been circulating for years. The marriage is in crisis, and there are repeated public distancings. Cameras have even documented how she has slapped her husband’s hand away when he tries to grab it. But the marriage has held up to this day. Sources cited as insiders in the US media therefore do not believe that a divorce is imminent this time.
Not another procedure
It would be fatal for Donald Trump in the final months of the election campaign if he were to be condemned as a villain not only in court but also publicly by his wife. In addition, a divorce could cost him dearly and deepen the financial difficulties he is already in. The magazine “Vanity Fair” claims to have learned that the Trumps renegotiated their prenuptial agreement in 2023 and that Melania and their son Barron were better financially secure.
Former press secretary and Trump insider Stephanie Grisham told CNN that she did not believe the divorce rumors. Melania “knew who she married” and it was unlikely that she would ever separate from him. In a TV interview with Phil McGraw, Donald Trump has now directly addressed the rumors. Phil McGraw asked the former president how his wife Melania Trump is doing at the moment: “I think well, but I don’t think it’s an easy thing for her…And I think if it wasn’t good, she wouldn’t want to tell me about it, to be honest. Because, you know, she sees that I’m fighting like hell.”
At the start of the interview, Trump called the former first lady a “wonderful wife” and reiterated that it’s “not easy for her to read this kind of stuff that’s fake, that’s fake.” He added, “But that’s the way it is. It’s certainly not a good thing. And it, yeah, it affects me more than if it were just about me. I wish it were just about me.”
Most political commentators see an emotionally damaged couple, but do not expect a divorce. The Trumps have long since left a romantic relationship, but they do have a stable political business relationship. CNN comments on the situation as follows: “She is something of a cipher – it has never been clear whether she has any political opinions at all – but she is willing to stay married to her husband, despite his despicable character. So Melania is many things at once: an allegedly damaged wife who seems to be commendably refusing to play silent, present forgiveness. She is also a woman who is capable of making her own decisions about her marriage and her life, and who chooses to stay married to one of the most obscene and dangerous men ever to enter American politics – and to support him in his political aspirations.”