Inside Melania Trump's Unexpected White House Life

The Melania Trump plot thickens.
The first lady has so far been unwavering in her quest to not rock any political boats while President Donald Trump is in office, speaking about her previously announced No. 1 issue, bullying, and also about the country's opioid crisis, and turning the world on with her style every time she steps outside. But try as she might to unobtrusively fulfill her duties as FLOTUS to the role's satisfaction, all eyes are on the inscrutable domestic situation in the White House once again.
"The star of the Trump family," as the president introduced Melania at a private dinner last year, has reliably polled higher than her husband since he took office (a common occurrence with first ladies), and as recently as January she was the favorite among all adult Trumps, first daughter Ivanka Trump included. But the outpouring of concern and sheer bafflement over what a day in the life of Melania Trump really looks like continues as evidence of President Trump's personal peccadilloes pile up and he persists in courting controversy on a near hourly basis.

Policy matters have lately been overshadowed by Stormy Daniels' claims and the criminal investigation into Trump's longtime attorney Michael Cohen, who insists a $130,000 payment he made to Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair between her and Trump in 2006—months after Melania gave birth to now 12-year-old Barron Trump—was made without Trump's knowledge. The president also said "no" when asked if he knew about the payment.
Daniels, who along with Trump initially denied reports of an affair when the story first surfaced in 2011, burst into the public's consciousness in a big way last month with her blunt and unblinking 60 Minutes interview—which gave the 50-year-old news program its highest ratings in nearly a decade—and now her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has become a darling of the cable news circuit, giving his expert 2 cents on where he sees the Cohen situation going and confidently vowing that the truth well is about to start gushing.
Rather glaringly, Trump never expressly tweeted about Daniels (he tweeted that "fake news" had never been "more voluminous or more inaccurate" the day after her interview), but he went to the virtual mattresses to slam the investigation into Cohen. Combine that with the recent furor over fired FBI director James Comey's book and press tour, which revived the lascivious allegations contained in a dossier about an encounter Trump denies having with two Russian prostitutes, and we've seen a lot of angry tweets.

But when there are cheating allegations—the Wall Street Journal also reported in 2016 that National Enquirer owner American Media, Inc. paid Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006 (also denied by POTUS) and never ran it—that means someone was supposedly cheated on.
And that person is now the first lady of the United States.
"No one was paying attention to her two years ago," a source told People in March. "They went about their day. Now it's a 24/7 tornado. She hates it." In fact, the insider added, "[Melania] has the same opinion about everything that the public does. 'What is going on! Why is this happening!'"

As commentary from both sides of the aisle approached the crescendo of "leave him!," Melania spent the week following the 60 Minutes interview at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with Barron, who was on spring break from St. Andrew's Episcopal School, where he's in the 6th grade.
The first lady's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said that Melania was "focused on being a mom and is quite enjoying spring break at Mar-a-Lago while working on future projects."
Trump reportedly had dinner with his wife at Mar-a-Lago that Thursday and they returned to Washington for Easter.
Donald Trump Jr. was only 12 when he first became aware of just how shamelessly provocative the tabloid headlines could be when he saw his parents' divorce unfold in 1990, and now with the Internet Melania seemingly has an even tougher job keeping Barron out of the fray as far as the closer-to-home stories about his father are concerned.

While it's still unclear whether she has set other specific goals for her time in Washington, Melania has at least succeeded at maintaining Barron's privacy so far (though society is in general agreement anyway that their child—the first first son to live in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr.—should be off limits as a target of scrutiny or mean-spirited humor). The tween is spotted at the usual times—Christmas tree lighting, Easter Egg Roll, etc.—and occasionally walking to and from the transport that takes the first family to Florida most weekends.
Sightings may increase this summer, but for the most part Barron's been busy since last September with a full schedule of school and activities. Melania was loath to leave Barron for extended periods while Trump was campaigning in 2016, only going out of town when she knew he'd be "okay alone for a few days with the help," she told GQ. While being first lady has already taken her to Asia, the Middle East and Europe, those trips are in actuality fairly whirlwind affairs (considering the miles traveled) that fit in with her preference to remain a fairly hands-on mom.
Additionally, her parents Viktor and Amalja Knavs, whose primary residence is also in Trump Tower in New York, make frequent trips to Washington to spend time with their daughter and grandson, and historically would often travel with the family to florida.