Melania Trump Living 'Strange' New Life, 'Mar-a-Lago' Author Says

Former first lady Melania Trump is living a "strange" new life, according to author Laurence Leamer.

Leamer, who wrote 2019's Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace, told The Daily Telegraph on Monday that despite being frequently seen at the Palm Beach, Florida, club before her husband's presidency, she is now rarely seen by members of Mar-a-Lago.

"She rarely exits Mar-a-Lago. It's a strange, isolated life they have in that place," Leamer told the newspaper. "Nobody knows where she is. It's like a mystery. It's certainly talked about."

Melania has been removed from public life since her husband left the White House in January 2021. Although a prominent fixture of Donald's 2016 presidential campaign, the former first lady has not been spotted on the 2024 campaign trail with her husband. She also has been absent from his various court appearances, including his civil fraud trial in New York state and the arraignments related to his four criminal indictments.

Melania, who was born in Slovenia, made a rare public appearance earlier this month at a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives, delivering remarks about her challenges in becoming a U.S. citizen on December 15. She also attended former first lady Rosalynn Carter's memorial service a couple of weeks before.

But over the weekend, some observers noticed that she was not sitting next to her husband at Mar-a-Lago's Christmas dinner, raising speculation again about her whereabouts and her relationship with the former president. She also did not appear in any of the holiday-related videos that her husband shared on Truth Social, opting to post her own Merry Christmas message online instead.

Newsweek reached out to Leamer and Donald Trump via email for comment.

Those close to Melania have said that since she left the White House the former first lady has devoted most of her time to her 17-year-old son, Barron, whom she shares with Donald. Melania has publicly expressed her support for her husband's third presidential campaign, and he has mentioned her on several occasions in interviews and at rallies.

Leamer, who has been banned by the former president from Mar-a-Lago for his reporting, said that Melania likely "wants to protect" Barron from the possible public scrutiny he could face if his father is reelected because the high school senior would be "all over the news" in a second Trump presidency since he would officially be an adult.