A few weeks ago, a clip of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump interacting on Inauguration Day made the rounds, suggesting that there may be icy relations between the two.
A new report in Us Weekly released Wednesday claims that Melania is struggling with the realities of her new role as First Lady and the scrutiny that comes with it.
The New York City based magazine founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company says that she [Melania] is apparently “miserable and unhappy.”
Citing a Trump “family source” — as well as family friend and stylist Phillip Bloch — the report claims Melania is “unhappy” with the added pressures and scrutiny that come along with her new life in the political spotlight.
She reportedly never expected to one day be serving as First Lady when she moved to the U.S. in 1996 to pursue fashion, and has largely been holed up in her $100 million Trump Tower apartment since the inauguration.
Dealing with media criticisms at the same time, Melania on February 6th filed a lawsuit in New York accusing Britain’s Daily Mail of defamation: The outlet published an article last August — now retracted — suggesting without evidence that she once worked as an “escort.” That hurt her reputation and commercial brand, the lawsuit alleges, and Melania Trump is seeking $150 million in damages.
“This life wasn’t her dream. It was Donald’s. Truthfully, it’s a lot to cope with,” Bloch told Us Weekly, explaining that Melania has also been “staying hidden more” in recent weeks. A family source added.
The “family source” told Us Weekly that Melania has stopped accompanying her son Barron to and from school (in a chauffeured SUV) because of the protesters outside of Trump Tower. Yet, she has left her apartment a few times to run errands and visit Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where the First Lady was recently photographed while Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie were visiting the Palm Beach estate. “Don’t let her smile in those photos fool you,” the family source told Us Weekly. “She hates this.”
However, a “Melania source” denied the claims, saying “she is very happy with her life and supporting her husband and family.”
Additional Reporting by The Business Insider.
