Melania Trump is spending Donald Trump’s second term holed up in a 75-foot tower at Mar-a-Lago—literally sleeping in a separate building from her husband, according to The Daily Beast’s Swamp newsletter.
Yes, you read that right. The first lady has apparently opted for the distinctive coquina and concrete tower on the sprawling 20-acre estate, while the president makes his bedroom in the private family quarters. Just because they share an address doesn’t mean they share an ensuite bathroom.
THE DETAILS: The tower’s unusual design reportedly features a passive cooling system that pulls in ocean breezes, drawing hot air up and out of the building. How romantic.
The Daily Beast describes Melania as “like a princess in a tower…counting down the days of her husband’s second term, hidden away in one of the most-watched homes in the world.” The newsletter has apparently been on a “Where’s Waldo?” mission tracking the elusive first lady’s whereabouts.
OF COURSE: Melania’s conspicuous absence from traditional first lady duties—and apparently from her husband’s bedroom—isn’t exactly shocking. During Trump’s first term, she was famously reluctant to move into the White House, staying behind in New York for months after the inauguration, ostensibly so their son Barron could finish the school year.
The couple’s relationship has long been the subject of speculation, with viral moments of Melania swatting away Donald’s hand and her barely concealed grimaces at public events becoming internet fodder for years.
WHY IT MATTERS: Look, who cares where a married couple sleeps? Normally, nobody. But this isn’t a normal marriage—it’s a transactional arrangement at the heart of American power, and Melania’s physical distance from her husband mirrors her apparent emotional distance from the role of first lady.
Her retreat to a literal tower while the country burns through another chaotic Trump term is almost too on-the-nose as a metaphor. She’s checked out, and she’s not even pretending otherwise.
BOTTOM LINE: The first lady of the United States is sleeping in a tower with good ventilation while her husband runs the country into the ground from somewhere else on the property. The passive cooling system pulls hot air up and out—which is more than we can say for the White House.
