President Donald Trump’s latest outing with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, will not silence the speculation that the romance is gone in their marriage.
The Republican couple were arm in arm at the 2025 Congressional Ball held inside the White House on the evening of Dec. 11. Trump, 79, and Melania, 55, both addressed the high-profile attendees after the pair descended from a wreath-wrapped staircase.
“I hope you will be excited to support my new legislative initiative in 2026. Some of you already know about it, because it’s already in the works. Thank you very much,” the first lady said to a polite applause from the room
According to Melania, some of the people in her inner circle were aware that she plans to work with Congress to pass presently unknown federal legislation. Her husband, the head of the executive branch, was apparently left out of the loop.
“Well, I just heard about that for the first time,” Trump admitted after Melania was done speaking. The father of five added, “It’s going to be great for children. I don’t know what it is she’s doing, but I know it’s going to be great for children, because she loves children.”
An additional awkward quote from the commander in chief referenced the Trumps’ 19-year-old son with Barron Trump, without saying his name. The billionaire businessman stated, “She’s got a wonderful boy, and she’s very proud of her boy, but she loves children.”
A clip of the speech going viral caused critics of the administration to zero in on Trump seemingly revealing that he and Melania don’t talk much and the odd way he referred to his own child.
“That is crazy! Trump just basically disowned Barron while at the same time admitting that he has no clue what his wife is doing politically,” one X user posted on the social networking platform.
A second account tweeted, “He talked about his wife’s initiative like someone describing a group project they didn’t show up for.” Someone else on the app declared, “This is the most honest thing he’s ever said: he has no idea what’s happening.”
“Has Trump forgotten that Barron is his son as well?” one person wondered. Yet another person trolled the president by sarcastically writing, “The signs of a great relationship… ‘I just heard about that for the first time,’ and ‘I don’t know what it is she’s doing.’” One person simply asked, “ Do they even talk? What in the world.”
Trump wed Melania in January 2005. Barron was born the following year. Previously, the former “The Apprentice” reality television star was married to the late Ivana Trump from 1977 to 1992 and Marla Maples from 1993 to 1999.
Ivana is the mother of Trump’s three oldest children, Donald Trump Jr. (born in 1977), Ivanka Trump (born in 1981), and Eric Trump (born in 1984). Marla gave birth to a daughter, Tiffany Trump (born in 1993).
Since officially entering presidential politics a decade ago, Trump’s relationship with Melania has been under public scrutiny. His first term as president produced an infamous exchange at the airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2017.
As the couple walked the tarmac side-by-side, Trump reached out to hold Melania’s hand, but she appeared to swat his hand away. The ex-model later claimed the highly publicized moment was just a “minor innocent gesture.”
More recently, the White House shared a photo of the president and the first lady walking together in November. The post backfired when many observers voiced the opinion that Melania had a distant, uninterested expression on her face in the image.
There are whispers in D.C. circles that Melania no longer wants to be in a relationship with the polarizing politician. Those unconfirmed rumors gained steam in June thanks to longtime Trump family biographer Michael Wolff spilling some alleged behind-the-scenes tea.
“I asked someone very close to them. I said, ‘So what’s going on?’ And this person looked at me like I was a real dunce, and then said, ‘She hates his f—king guts!’” Wolff, 72, recalled in an “60 Minutes Australia” interview.
