Clues are piling up and speculation growing that Melania Trump could be the first First Lady to divorce a sitting president.
Rumors of a split were batted down a week after the November 2016 election when Snopes found “no truth to this story, which originated with Now8News, a clickbait fake news site that masquerades as the online arm of a local television news outlet.”
Retired college professor Colleen O’Connor wrote in Times of San Diego that Melania recently hired new staff: a director of operations, a policy director and a communications coordinator.
“Yet she has not made a public statement since Jan. 12, when the Stormy Daniels news surfaced. And she was not spotted at recent dinners hosted by Trump,” O’Connor wrote.
Monday was the Trumps’ 13th wedding anniversary, and little or no affection was noted publicly.
Melania also claimed a “scheduling and logistics” excuse for canceling a trip with the president to Davos, Switzerland.
And Michael Wolff’s appearance on Bill Maher’s show added fuel to his “Fire and Fury” book’s hints that Trump is currently having a White House affair.
Communications chief Hope Hicks and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley are the main objects of speculation.
“You just have to read between the lines,” Wolff said after making a reference to Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress — Bill Clinton’s intern. “Now that I’ve told you, when you hit that paragraph, you’re gonna say bingo.”
Last June, a body language expert said the Trumps have no marital chemistry.
Hannah Golden, in elitedaily.com, quoted Susan Constantine as saying: “I think she’s gotten to a place where, now, since he’s become president, that already inflated narcissistic personality is out of control. I think he’s not even somewhat available emotionally. He’s just off on his own and she’s kind of got her own world.”
Town and County Magazine even explored the logistics of a First Family divorce, involving a New York state prenuptial agreement.
“During his two previous divorces, Trump stuck mostly to the prenup; although Ivana Trump contested it, she reportedly got $14 million, a New York apartment, a Connecticut mansion, and Mar-a-Lago once a year, as well as $650,000 annually for alimony and child support,” the story said. “Marla Maples contested hers, too, and is said to have been awarded around $2 million.”
In July 2017, the experts-answer site Quora entertained the question: When will Melania divorce Donald Trump?
Ten answers were posted, but not with great consensus.
“Unlike Trump’s first two wives, one gets the sense that Melania is made of colder, tougher, more clear-eyed stuff,” wrote Robin R. Melz. “From day one, Melania has known the score.”
Robert Enders said: “He’s 71 years old and obese. There would be a bigger payoff if she just waits for nature to take its course.”