Is there a fake Melania Trump? Does the president's wife hate him? And what went down at Trump Tower in 2017? Nobody knows for sure — but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from taking a good guess.
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00:00Is there a fake Melania Trump?
00:02Does the president's wife hate him?
00:04And what went down at Trump Tower in 2017?
00:07Nobody knows for sure, but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from taking a good guess.
00:11Melania Trump took her time moving into the White House following Donald Trump's first
00:15inauguration in 2017.
00:17"...we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come."
00:25While the then-First Lady explained she was simply waiting for Barron Trump to finish
00:29school in New York, others claimed she was biding time to finish renegotiating their
00:33prenup.
00:34Some even alleged that Melania stayed behind because she wasn't ready to end an affair
00:37— specifically, an affair she'd allegedly had with the head of security working at the
00:41Tiffany's boutique in the Trump Tower lobby.
00:43Author Monica Byrne first shared the theory in since-deleted tweets, claiming that the
00:48romance had been going on for years and that Donald was fully aware of it.
00:51The rumored affair partner has since been identified as Henry Hank Seamus, the vice
00:56president of Global Protection Services for Tiffany & Co.
00:59While the rumors initially died down, they resurfaced in 2019 when a former employee
01:04on The Celebrity Apprentice appeared to corroborate Byrne's claims.
01:08He posted on ex-formerly Twitter,
01:10"...Melania didn't live with him in Trump Tower either.
01:13She lived with her boyfriend.
01:14We had to book the transport on Apprentice finales and her pickup was not on Fifth Avenue."
01:19Melania Trump wasn't your typical first lady, to say the least, as she often chose to stay
01:23out of the limelight whenever she could.
01:25But while Donald Trump has said that his wife is an exceptionally private person, some
01:29critics claim that Melania wasn't as involved as other first ladies because she hated her
01:33first term in the White House.
01:35According to the 2024 book American Woman, Melania was so miserable in her role that
01:39she often turned down events, rarely set foot in the East Wing, and would often spend all
01:44day lounging around the White House in her terrycloth bathrobe.
01:47The book claims that, by the end of the first four years, Melania was
01:51checked out and exhausted, so much so that she didn't even bother to write farewell cards
01:55to her staff, instead asking a subordinate to do it for her.
01:59Melania's apparent contempt for her job became public in 2020 when former aide Stephanie
02:03Wolkoff shared a secret audio with CNN from two years earlier.
02:07In the recording, the first lady appeared to dismiss her duties.
02:10"...Who gives a f---- about Christmas stuff and decoration?"
02:14For her part, Melania later said the clip didn't represent her true feelings and was
02:18taken out of context.
02:20One of the wackiest conspiracy theories to surround the Trump family claims that Melania
02:24is sometimes replaced by a body double when she doesn't want to appear in public.
02:28This bizarre rumor began in 2017 when someone tweeted images of Melania walking with a Secret
02:33Service agent who looked similar to her, claiming the agent was actually a stand-in for the
02:37first lady.
02:38Former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow debunked the claims in an interview with CNN,
02:42however.
02:43Yet this conspiracy theory has continued to resurface.
02:46In 2019, fake Melania began trending again.
02:49The then-president actually responded this time, pinning the blame on his opponents.
02:54He wrote on ex-formerly Twitter,
02:55"...the fake news photoshopped pictures of Melania, then propelled conspiracy theories
03:00that it's actually not her by my side."
03:02A 2020 photo of the couple on Marine One then reignited the conspiracy before it made the
03:06rounds yet again in 2024.
03:09After the Trumps arrived to cast their votes in Palm Beach, Florida, some folks were convinced
03:13it wasn't actually Melania who voted.
03:15As one tweeted,
03:16"...Timu Melania?"
03:18Melania and Donald Trump's marriage has been scrutinized from every angle, and numerous
03:22sources have suggested that the couple rarely sees eye to eye.
03:25Indeed, former staffers and insiders told New York Times White House correspondent Katie
03:29Rogers that the Trumps were in constant disagreement behind closed doors.
03:33In her 2024 book, American Woman, Rogers wrote that the pair butted heads over everything
03:38from decor to television.
03:40One source alleged that after Melania picked out the furniture for their first White House
03:43term, Donald replaced her choices with several pieces he liked better.
03:47What's more, Mr. Trump, a Fox News devotee, reportedly became incensed that Melania's
03:52TV was tuned to CNN while they were traveling on Air Force One.
03:56After that, he ordered that all the plane's TVs should only ever show Fox.
04:00Melania's own 2024 memoir only added fuel to the fire, as she wrote about being unequivocally
04:06pro-choice.
04:07However, Donald later said that he wasn't bothered by his wife's beliefs and supported
04:10her speaking her truth.
04:12On Fox News, he recalled telling Melania,
04:14"...you have to write what you believe.
04:15I'm not going to tell you what to do."
04:17Melania herself assured Fox viewers their marriage was as solid as ever.
04:21Uh, yeah, so we have a beautiful relationship."
04:25Perhaps unsurprisingly, Donald and Melania Trump have been plagued by divorce rumors
04:29for years.
04:30But talk really heated up following revelations about alleged hush money payments made to
04:35Donald's affair partner, Stormy Daniels.
04:37As Melania kept quiet on the drama, former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed
04:42in her 2018 book Unhinged,
04:44"...Melania is counting every minute until he is out of office and she can divorce him."
04:49That hadn't happened by the end of Trump's term in 2021, but rumors of an impending split
04:53haven't quieted down.
04:55Many people continue to speculate about possible reasons why Melania and Donald hadn't split
04:59yet.
05:00In early 2024, a social media post claimed that Melania had actually told Donald she
05:05wanted a divorce.
05:06The Trump campaign quickly debunked the story.
05:08Indeed, Melania herself had nothing but praise for her husband while promoting the release
05:12of her memoir that same month.
05:13She told Fox News their first date was an
05:16"...enjoyable and memorable evening," then tweeted a video proclaiming,
05:19"...from the moment Donald and I met, there was an undeniable spark."
05:25As for her notable absence from the 2024 campaign trail, Donald claimed that Melania
05:30does support him.
05:31She just doesn't like being in the spotlight.
05:33He told a Foxtown Hall,
05:34"...if I didn't introduce Melania, she'd be very happy about it."
05:38So, if they supposedly hate each other so much, then why are Donald and Melania Trump
05:43together?
05:44Well, many rumors suggest that Melania is most concerned about the assets she and Barron
05:48Trump are entitled to.
05:49Even Melania's former friend and aide Stephanie Wolkoff went as far as to tell the BBC,
05:54"...I do, I do believe it's a transactional marriage."
05:57Author Mary Jordan seemed to agree, claiming in her 2020 book The Art of Her Deal that
06:01Melania delayed moving into the White House in 2017 until she finished renegotiating her
06:06prenup.
06:07Jordan alleged,
06:08"...she wanted proof in writing that when it came to financial opportunities and inheritance,
06:12Barron would be treated as more of an equal to Trump's oldest three children."
06:16Melania's team quickly shut down the claims, but that didn't stop further rumors from resurfacing
06:20in 2023.
06:22Sources told Radar that Melania threatened to renegotiate their prenup after Donald was
06:25ordered to pay damages to E. Jean Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse.
06:29In order to save face ahead of the 2024 election, Donald reportedly agreed to up Melania's monthly
06:35allowance and Barron's inheritance.
06:37A source told Page Six that Melania had actually spent an entire year quietly negotiating the
06:42premarital agreement to her advantage.