Melania Trump is missing, or at least thatâs what half the internet and several of her Mar-a-Lago neighbours think. So letâs investigate.
According to these insiders, the former First Lady has rarely been seen outside of the private members club in Florida that now serves as the Trumpsâ permanent base since leaving the White House.
âNobody knows where she is. Itâs like a mystery. Itâs certainly talked about,â Laurence Leamer, author of a book on the infamous Mar-a-Lago estate stated. The author also shared that members have reported seeing the former model far less often at the club, despite the fact that she lives âright off the main hall.â
In the past few months, Mrs Trump has also been notably absent from his campaign trail, after already taking a relatively small role in his 2016 campaign. This is highly atypical of spouses of presidential candidates, who are usually intent and communicating the perfect family unit that is a central cornerstone for the American dream.
However, what heightened suspicions was Melaniaâs absence from the familyâs Christmas pictures. The photo, taken at Mar-a-Lago, featured most of the Trump family, including their 17-year-old son Barron, and Melaniaâs father. Nevertheless, the actual hostess of the festivities was missing.
To top it all off, Melania passed on accompanying her husband to a New Yearâs Eve party. So at this point, even Trump had to drop the âeverything is fineâ charade and clear the air about his wifeâs whereabouts. In a video clip shared online, he said: âMelaniaâgreat First Lady, so popular, the people love herâsheâs now in a hospital with her mother.â
He went on to add: âHer mother, Amalija, is very ill, but hopefully sheâll be recovering.â Trump didnât miss an opportunity to add that his wife sends her love. âBut sheâs been very ill, so I just want to say âhelloâ to the First Ladyâwe just spoke, down in Miami, great hospitalâand hopefully theyâll be okay, but itâs a tough one, itâs a very tough one. She knows probably about 95 per cent of the people in this room. We just want to wish Amalija that she gets better as quickly as possible.â
Nevertheless, the fact that Melania seemed to be missing had already made headlines by that point. âSo Melaniaâs mom is very sick, but her father appeared. Got it!â one netizen shared on X, formerly Twitter, voicing an overall disbelief of Trumpâs statements online.
Interestingly enough, this isnât the first time that the former First Ladyâs whereabouts have been in question. In 2018, Mrs Trump was seemingly missing for an astonishing 20 days, leading to considerable speculation about her health and well-being. This prompted her to tweet: âIâm here at the White House with my family, feeling great, and working hard on behalf of children and the American people!â
Look, I am not one to bargain in conspiracy theories, but it is fun to imagine that Melania finally jumped ship and left her notoriously misogynist husband, especially after newly unsealed court documents drew renewed attention to his relationship with disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Is the heightened media attention getting too much? Melania, who has been memed endlessly over her supposed disdain of Donald Trump, might finally think that enough is enough.
Nevertheless, these speculations seem unlikely to be true. It should be noted that every assumption that Melania hates Trump, or is just going along with his shenanigans for their son Barron rids her of any complicity. Under her passive attitude, poised smile and elegant looks, she might very well be hiding the same views as her husband. Although she doesnât join him on stage, Trump has indicated multiple times that the former First Lady is still a source of moral support and love for him. This would move the mystery around her frequent disappearances into a different light, of course.
If it is not an aversion to her husband, then what is it? Palm Beach insiders have described Mrs Trump as fiercely protective of her family, in particular regarding her son Barron, who is now 17 years old.
Some speculated that Melania may be reluctant to return to the White House at a critical point in her sonâs education, and noted that this time around, the teenager would be subjected to much more press scrutiny.
âShe wants to protect him… and if Trump was back in the White House, Barron will be all over the news because heâs an adult [now],â Leamer stated in his book.
At the same, with Trumpâs legal problems increasing significantly, it could be likely that the former First Lady is trying to protect herself by avoiding association and thus complicity in whatever it is her husband might cook up next.
Whatever the reason, it seems like we will be seeing much less of Melania in the future.