What Donald and Melania Trump’s Lives Are Really Like Post-Presidency 》

While he had achieved fame before as a real estate mogul and reality television star, nothing brought Donald Trump and his family into our daily lives like becoming president. But even after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, it is difficult for many of us to imagine the Trumps’ lives after leaving the White House.

So, what will Donald and Melania Trump actually be doing in the coming years? We’ve got the full story of what their lives are really like now that their time in the White House is over.

Melania is planning a presidential library

Donald Trump winning the presidency has been something of a double-edged sword for Melania Trump. On one hand, it helped put her in the international spotlight in a way that her modeling career never could. On the other hand, it put her front and center for many of her husband’s scandals and a few controversies of her own.

So, what’s next for Melania? According to an insider speaking to the Express, she has “no interest” in returning to public life.

However, staying out of public life doesn’t mean she’s not staying busy. The Washington Post reports that Melania will focus on helping plan and design a presidential library for Donald Trump, which will likely be located in Florida. But they also report that Ivanka wants to be involved in the library, which may lead to some behind-the-scenes conflicts.

“The library location has not even been scouted yet, but Ivanka has made her interest clear,” an insider told The Washington Post. “As usual, Melania will have to contend with the other family members.”

Trump finds a way to tweet without Twitter

Many presidents are actually excited to leave the executive role behind them. This gives them a chance to focus on writing, travel, or simply spending time with their family.

But Trump isn’t like most presidents. He went out of his way to establish “The Office of the Former President.” Between this and his recent appearance at CPAC, it’s clear that he really wants to stay involved in politics.

And we got our first real taste of that when Trump used the office to comment on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Trump put out a short statement reminiscent of his tweets (before Twitter banned him), claiming that “if he wasn’t president, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for five years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it out at all.”

Considering how many times Trump downplayed the virus and claimed it would miraculously go away on its own, it is unclear what role he thinks he actually played in vaccine development.

That’s part of why his new neighbors aren’t excited about seeing him move in.

Trump wants to live at Mar-a-Lago permanently

For many years, Donald Trump has enjoyed spending time in Florida at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Now, it looks like Florida will be where Donald and Melania Trump live for the foreseeable future. And Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner recently bought some land in Florida’s Indian Creek Island. It looks like they may be joining Donald in the Sunshine State.

As for the locals, they aren’t all happy about this news. Some are claiming that by living at the estate permanently, Trump is in violation of a 1993 agreement that allowed him to convert Mar-a-Lago from a private residence into a social club. The agreement stipulated that no one could live in the estate permanently, although there is a loophole in the town’s zoning code for “bona fide employees.”

Recently, Trump’s lawyer argued he has the right to live there as a de facto employee and “mayor” of the estate.

Ongoing Secret Service protection

Given the multiple impeachments and his incitement of the Capitol rioters, many have incredulously asked this question: Will Donald Trump continue to receive Secret Service protection?

The short answer is “yes.” He and Melania have Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives. Others aren’t so lucky. For example, young Barron gets that protection now, but he won’t once he turns 16.

Where Trump will really need protection, though, is in a court of law.

Ongoing legal battles

One thing is completely certain about the future for Donald Trump. He will be facing a small mountain of legal battles.

The Guardian reports that no less than three different jurisdictions are considering or pursuing criminal cases against Trump. Other prosecutors are investigating fraudulent business practices related to the Trump Organization.

Obviously, there is no way of knowing how these legal battles will go for Trump. But outside of federal crimes, nobody will be able to pardon Trump later for any convictions that come from these state-led investigations.

Suffering business prospects

At first, the idea of Donald Trump continuing to focus on politics seems odd. Why wouldn’t he return to his first passion: being a businessman?

It looks like the answer may the fact that business is looking pretty bad for Trump. The New York Times reported on a financial disclosure that showed various Trump businesses had “suffered steep declines in revenue.” For example, revenue at his Miami golf course dropped by 40% and revenue from his Washington D.C. hotel dropped by 63%.

All of this added up to the Trump Organization’s annual revenue dropping by 38%. Obviously, COVID-19 played a fairly large part in this decline. But between the virus and Trump’s increasingly toxic brand, it makes sense he would pivot away from business and into politics.

Fortunately for Trump, he now has a pension that will last the rest of his life.

Annual salary for life

While his businesses may be suffering, Donald Trump is not exactly going poor. And one reason for this is that he will be receiving a generous presidential salary for the rest of his life!

As Forbes reports, Donald Trump will be receiving $220,000 every year for the rest of his life thanks to the Former Presidents Act. On top of that, Trump will receive $150,000 per year for 30 months to pay for staff, though this amount will drop to $96,000 per year after that.

The government is also willing to pay for “suitable office space” for the former president. But it certainly looks like Trump will be content handling everything from within Mar-a-Lago.

Not joining the Presidents Club

Among living presidents, there is a kind of fraternity that transcends party lines. It’s not that uncommon to see Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama join together. They make important bipartisan statements and they all seem to get along quite well.

This fraternity is often referred to as “The Presidents Club.” However, many people (including Donald himself) assume that Trump won’t be joining that club anytime soon.

According to Kate Andersen Brower, who interviewed Trump in 2019 for her book Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump, he laughed at the very idea.

“He kind of laughed at the very notion that he would be accepted in the presidents club,” Brower told the AP. “He was like, ‘I don’t think I’ll be accepted.’”

And that seems to be correct. During Joe Biden’s inauguration, Clinton, Bush, and Obama all appeared in a video about the importance of political unity. (Jimmy Carter was not in the video because he was unable to travel.) But Donald Trump was not in the video for another reason: he simply wasn’t invited.