Former First Lady Melania Trump will stick by her husband Donald after leaving Pennsylvania Avenue, despite punters having placed bets in recent years that their divorce is imminent, The Times reported citing a family acquaintance.
"The likelihood is 99.99% they will stay together. I'd truly be shocked if Melania formally separated and divorced from her husband", said R Couri Hay, a society publicist and "friendly acquaintance" of the Trumps.
He went on to dwell on Slovenian ex-model Melania Knavs (her maiden name) having grown up "in a pseudo-communist difficult life", adding that when she tied the knot with real estate businessman Donald Trump, she strove for "stability, romantic stability, financial stability, and through it all the one thing still standing is that marriage".
As Trump's presidential term drew to a close and he vehemently opposed the 2020 election result, Melania, conversely, played it low key, opting to calmly and reservedly pack their things at the White House and get everything ready for their relocation to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's club in Palm Beach, Florida, and occasional visits to the couple's Manhattan penthouse. "She just wants to go home", an insider told CNN last month.
By the time of Biden's inauguration last week, Melania is said to have adopted a whole new manner, replacing her stony looks with grins: memes started circulating at the time, showing Trump's frustrated older children Donald Jr, Ivanka, and Eric — almost on the brink of tears, compared with their stepmother's broad smiles.
Observers also reportedly took note of a distinctive change in the ex-first couple's attitude to each other: their holding hands and overall tenderness as Trump praised his wife as "woman of great grace and beauty and dignity". The couple left the White House for Florida just in time to mark at least one occasion (as expected it wasn't Joe Biden's solemn swearing-in ceremony) - their 16th wedding anniversary.
Yet, a former friend of theirs told The Times they "don't believe in the lovey-dovey-type stuff", unlike the sentimental Bidens.
Experts believe it is the "bunker mentality" that the Trumps owe their effectively preserved marriage to. Four years ago, it was deemed as being on the rocks, as the property mogul assumed office, drawing a myriad rumours about infidelity, etc. and causing his wife to renegotiate her prenuptial agreement.
"The reports of his infidelities, his affairs with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, infuriated Melania. They were so apart that people worried that she actually could walk", said Mary Jordan, the author of "The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump".
"But what I heard over and over again was that a bunker mentality developed, and she felt closer to him because both of them were taking criticism".
Kate Andersen Brower, who penned "First Women: the Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies", echoed the stance, using the example of the Nixons and the Watergate scandal that Richard Nixon was embroiled in.
"When President Nixon resigned [in 1974], I think it brought the Nixons closer together. They went to their estate in California and really had this kind of bunker mentality that they were in it together", she said arguing that when both feel like they're under siege "it does make some marriages stronger, and Melania is one of the few people who hasn't abandoned Trump".
Indeed, as condemnation snowballed right after the Capitol attack on 6 January, some GOP allies bolted, but Melania apparently stayed by her husband's side.
