For better or for worse, Donald Trump embodies a hurricane. He’s a major mover and a shaker, and anyone who gets close to him has their lives changed forever.
Perhaps the best example of this is Melania Trump. Her marriage to Donald Trump helped her rise from a small-time international model to the first lady of the United States. But it also changed her life in a number of unpleasant and unexpected ways.
Don’t believe it? Here’s the story of how Melania’s life changed after marrying Donald Trump.
Melania Trump becomes a socialite
After marrying Donald Trump, Melania’s life began to change almost right away. For example, she became a bonafide New York socialite almost overnight.
Before marriage, she was an international model willing to do almost anything to gain attention. The most infamous example of this is when she posed naked for a GQ photoshoot, all while relaxing on Donald Trump’s own plane.
After marriage to Donald, Melania’s media appearances were much more tasteful, with different outlets drawing attention to things like her killer wedding dress and jaw-dropping ceremony. And The New York Times described her new life as that of “any number of trophy spouses” in major cities all around the world.
To some people, the notion of being a “trophy spouse” may be retrograde and demeaning. But for a social climber like Melania, this was “mission accomplished.”
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Melania Trump loses friends
Marriage to Donald Trump meant Melania had to make some major sacrifices. And the biggest sacrifice of all may be the different friends she lost along the way.
One such friend is Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. The two women were close friends from 2003 until 2018, when Wolkoff was implicated in issues with Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration. Wolkoff would go on to write a tell-all book about their friendship, Melania and Me. There, she dropped bombshells about Melania like: “Her selfishness is so deep, it enables her to keep her distance from the rest of the world.”
As Donald Trump’s political ambitions crystallized, Melania also lost many Democrat friends. In fact, the Trumps once enjoyed a close relationship with the Clinton family. “Mr. Trump has a close friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton,” Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) told Miami radio host Roberto Rodríguez Tejera in 2015. “They were at his last wedding. He has contributed to the Clintons’ foundation. He has contributed to Mrs. Clinton’s Senate campaigns. All of this is very suspicious.”
To complete Melania’s isolation, even Donald Trump’s own friends eventually turned against her. When she decided to stay in New York with Barron instead of immediately moving into the White House, Donald Trump’s buddy and inauguration chair Thomas Barrack called her “stubborn” and said (via The Washington Post), “That woman! She will be the end of him.”
Marriage to Melania wasn’t the “end” for Donald Trump. But his presidency was very nearly the end for Melania!
Melania Trump, reluctant first lady
For many women, becoming the first lady of the United States would be an absolute dream. Melania Trump achieved this dream, but it didn’t take too long for it to become a nightmare.
To begin with, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to the gig. According to an insider speaking to The Washington Post, Melania told friends after the election, “Stop calling me first lady.”
So, what did Melania dread about this new role? Generally speaking, she likes to take her time and plan so everything is “just right.” Moving into the White House and becoming first lady meant that her life would be a whirlwind of chaotic events at all times.
And no matter what she did during these events, Melania could expect very intense media scrutiny.
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Melania Trump’s intense media scrutiny
When you marry someone rich and famous, your life is never quite the same. For Melania, she was already used to a life in front of the cameras thanks to her career as an international model. But after she married Donald Trump, the tone and scrutiny of the press both increased.
Instead of puff pieces about fashion or modeling, Melania was suddenly subject to tabloid articles that maligned her character. And after Donald Trump became president, media outlets often wondered why she (the architect of the anti-bullying “Be Best” campaign) never weighed in on her husband’s abusive rally rants and Twitter meltdowns.
For better and for worse, Melania Trump was now a public figure of international renown. And the bad news for her husband was that she learned to be just as ruthless and cunning as the other public figures she was now rubbing shoulders with.
Melania Trump: art of the prenup deal
Remember the whole scandal when Melania Trump refused to leave Trump Tower and move into the White House? As it turns out, there was an ulterior motive behind the whole thing.
At the time, Melania Trump claimed that she simply wanted to stay in New York so that Barron could finish up his school year. But this was reportedly all cover so that she could renegotiate her pre-nup deal with Donald Trump.
Melania Trump married the self-proclaimed master of making deals. But it turns out that she understands the “art of the deal” even better than her husband!
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Melania Trump and her husband’s scandals
Life after marriage meant that Melania had to deal with many scandals of her very own. But perhaps the worst way her life changed after marrying Donald Trump is that she took on the increased burden of his scandals as well.
The nastiest example of this is Donald Trump’s alleged extramarital affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. With the Stormy Daniels scandal, she had to deal with everything in real time.
Hearing allegations that her husband paid a porn star an exorbitant amount to keep quiet about an affair was downright humiliating. And Melania wasn’t above lashing out. At one point, Melania was caught on tape calling Stormy Daniels (via The Guardian) a “porn hooker.”
Melania eventually emerged from this scandal, and some would say she is stronger for it. But others see a woman whose life has been largely ruined by Donald Trump and want to ask her a simple question: was it all worth it?