White House reporter and author Katie Rogers says Melania Trump has no interest in returning to full-time life in Washington, D.C. if her husband Donald Trump wins a second term.
Rogers just published the book "American Woman: a history of the modern first lady," In it, she details four times that Donald Trump and his wife clashed while occupying the White House and outlines how Melania feels about campaigning and life in the Beltway. While Melania would presumably be able to live in Washington since their son Barron turns 18 this year and high school would no longer be a consideration, Rogers said no one should expect her to take up life in D.C.
"My reporting does not show that she enjoys defending her husband, as she has been called to do numerous times. And my reporting doesn’t show that she has an interest in returning to Washington full time," Rogers told "Politico."
She added, “So, I guess taken together, if Trump wins, we could expect a first lady who embraces the role, but possibly, because she was such a norm-breaking figure, takes her time coming to Washington, goes back and forth, that seems possible to me.”
That dovetails with what Melania's former friend and aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told Newsweek about what she would do if Trump is reelected.
Melania "never wanted to be there in the first place" Winston Wolkoff said. Notably, Melania has been almost entirely out of sight since Donald Trump began stumping for reelection.
This comes as Helen Lewis wrote a piece in 'The Atlantic' naming Melania Trump as the most consequential first lady in history.
Not for what she did, but for what she didn't do: fulfill a traditional stand-by-her-man role.
"Back in 2017, she made a half-hearted effort at holding down what I believe to be the world’s most thankless job, and then she decided, like Bartleby the Scrivener, that she would prefer not to. Even more surprisingly, it turned out that no one could force her," Lewis wrote. "For decades, we have been assured that American voters want an unblemished nuclear family—a supportive spouse and smiling children—in the White House. The Trumps smashed that norm, along with many others. In this year’s primary season, as her husband cruises toward renomination, Melania has largely remained out of the public eye."
As for what she says, in her first interview after Trump lost the 2020 election, Melania told FOX News "never say never,” when asked if she would live in the White House again should her husband run for reelection.
