Melania Trump hasn’t been in the news much, which seems to be exactly her aim.
The former First Lady has done everything short of file for divorce to put distance between herself and her husband, and it’s worked out for her. While occasional memes still poke fun at her absence, and she’s delivered an interview or two regarding her distant hubby, it’s clear that Melania checked out of the marriage years ago.
She’s still a Trump, however, and despite the fact that she departed the former president’s side the moment she could, she’s yet to officially divorce him. Those expensive handbags are just too enticing to let go, so Melania’s seemingly in it for good.
No one can claim that she’s got Don’s back from a half dozen states away, but if she didn’t leave him following reports of the affair, his brazen insults toward women, the weird sexualization of his daughter, the insurrection, the impeachments, or the felony convictions, she’s not going to leave him now. Melania likes being a Trump — just not being around the Trumps.
But back when she first married ol’ Donny boy, it’s likely Melania liked him a fair bit more. She may have even loved him, those long years ago, but youth has always been the territory of the foolish. And Melania was still in the flush of youth when she met her future husband — at least when compared against the failed businessman’s advanced age.
How old was Melania when she met Donald Trump?
Melania and Donald Trump met for the first time at a party in New York City’s Kit Kat Club in 1998. Melania was working as a model at the time, which predictably urged the notoriously predatory former president to chat her up. They didn’t actually start dating until a year later, however, once Trump’s divorce from his second wife, Marla Maples, was finalized.
By November of 1999, however, the pair were dating, and engaging in truly cringe-worthy interviews with greasy lecher Howard Stern. A brief breakup in 2000 almost ended their story for good, but the pair reconciled and, in 2004, got engaged with the exchange of a stunningly expensive $1.5 million ring. They were married in 2005 in a no-doubt lavish ceremony, and a year later, in 2006, Barron was born.
When they first met, Melania was 28 years old to Trump’s 52, making her new husband just four years shy of double her age. By the time they married, Melania was officially in her 30s, and Trump was pushing 60. When the single term president announced his intent to run, Melania was in her mid-40s, Barron was just under 10, and Trump was nearing his 70th birthday.
Despite the age gap, the felonies, and the clear disinterest between them — you will never convince me this woman even likes him, let alone love — the pair are still together 26 years after they first met. They’ve successfully raised a child together (or mostly together) and they’re once again eyeing down the potential of a relocation to the White House.
