Will Melania Trump Live in the White House if Donald Wins the Presidency? Sources Weigh In (Exclusive)
PEOPLE spoke with multiple people in Melania's orbit in recent days to get ahead of a question that's certain to arise if Donald wins the 2024 presidential election
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If Donald Trump returns to the White House, some have wondered whether his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, will do the same — at least on a full-time basis.
PEOPLE spoke with several sources in Melania's orbit who offered their opinions on whether she would want to make Washington, D.C., her home again, and most had similar thoughts.
“If Melania becomes first lady again, of course people expect her to move into the White House and perform appropriate duties,” a social source close to the Trumps tells PEOPLE.
However, Melania, 54, is not so keen on relocating to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the source says.
"She will have her private living apartment there, and she has her home in New York, and her home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach," the source says. "She will spend time in all of these places."
Thinking about whether she'd make the White House her main residence, though, the source says: "Not likely."
With Barron Trump, 18, currently in his first year of studies at New York University, Melania is reportedly hoping to spend more time in the city with the only child she shares with Donald.
“As much as Melania loves Mar-a-Lago and her life in Palm Beach, she will spend more time in New York with her son, who is more important to her than anything else,” the source says of the coming months.
“If her husband is elected, she will attend the White House functions that she is asked to attend just as she always has. Melania knows what to do, yet has a mind of her own.”
The source adds: “That has not and will not change if former president Trump wins the election.”
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Melania Trump listens to Donald Trump give a toast at the 2017 Governors' Dinner in the White House East RoomAnother source who is a friend of the Trump family tells PEOPLE more emphatically that the former first lady will eschew the former address where she lived when her husband was president from 2017 to 2021.
"She definitely won't be going back to Washington to live," the source claims to PEOPLE. "She'll stay between Florida and NYC. This is not what she signed up for."
Since leaving the White House in 2020, Melania has had a reprieve from the “intense public scrutiny that she dislikes,” says a third source who is based in New York.
A return to the spotlight would mean that she “will do everything expected,” the source says, but “Melania does what she has to do. She will always have a life of her own away from politics.”
“She grits her teeth, turns her head and does what she needs to do,” the source tells PEOPLE.
One source had a different take than the others, asserting that Melania will embrace all that is asked of her role as the first lady — for the second time.
“Melania is a unique first lady and ideal for the times we are in,” the social and political source tells PEOPLE. “She has her own views and some are different from her husband’s. But no surprise to anyone who really knows Donald, they are not that far apart on some issues.”
Melania “hates politics,” and tries to stay as far away from it as possible, the source says.
“Barron’s safety and well being will always remain at the top of her priority list, but that doesn’t mean she would shirk her duties as first lady should that opportunity come again,” the source believes.
PEOPLE reached out to Melania's spokesperson for comment.
