Where is Melania Trump now? She has an impressive net worth and stays away from scandals unlike her husband, Donald Trump, who has been indicted for 34 felony counts.
After weeks of speculation, former president Donald Trump was officially indicted on March 30, 2023. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and pleaded not guilty.
As one of the most infamous and divisive presidents in United States history, many have anticipated his comeuppance.
Yet even amidst a turning point in Donald Trump’s life, his wife, Melania Trump, remains notably out of the spotlight.
What is Melania Trump doing now and how much is her net worth today?
What is Melania Trump doing now?
When Donald Trump traveled to New York for his arraignment, which was heralded by celebratory citizens and right-wing radicals falling off their bikes while attempting to protest, Melania reportedly did not accompany him on his trip.
It’s almost as if being married to one of the most problematic political figures in United States history wasn’t already a blemish on one’s career, but skipping out on her husband’s arraignment seems like a no-brainer for any normal person.
As of this writing, however, there have been no official reports as to what Melania could be up to in one of the darkest hours of the Trump family. In fact, she seems content enough to avoid family drama at all costs, even if it involves a former president’s public sex scandal.
In a March 2023 report by PEOPLE, a source stated: “Melania is leading her own life and still feels happy being at Mar-a-Lago, surrounded by people who love her and who never talk about reality or bad things about her husband.”
However, she supposedly has shown no support for her husband in the wake of Donald’s indictment over the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal.
“She remains angry and doesn’t want to hear [the alleged hush money payment] mentioned,” a source reports per PEOPLE. “She is aware of who her husband is and keeps her life upbeat with her own family and a few close friends.”
She reportedly wants to ignore the current debacle and hopes that it will go away soon.
Yet her anger at her husband has not overtly stopped her efforts to ignore reality or maintain a publicly-stable relationship with him. PEOPLE reports that Melania and Donald live in separate quarters at the Mar-a-Lago home but are still spotted eating dinner together. However, apart from that, they supposedly don’t spend much time with each other.
Melania even continues her duties as a mother to their youngest son Barron.
True to her little bubble, though, PEOPLE writes that they are “low-key” with socializing and public appearances.
“She has her son and other close family members,” PEOPLE reports. “They are tribe-like and usually stick together.”
However, in July 2023, Melania did release a limited-edition nonfungible token on her website, celebrating Apollo 11’s moon landing on July 20, 1969. However, it was quickly revealed that NASA did not approve the NFT and it actually violated NASA guidelines, per Gizmodo.
What is Melania Trump’s net worth?
Former first lady of the United States Melania Trump (real name: Melanija Knavs) has an estimated current net worth of $50 million. She earned her fortune from modeling and politics.
Even though she seems to be away from politics and living her own private life now, she still makes good money. It was recently reported that Melania made more than $1.2 million in speaking fees since leaving the White House. That’s a pretty impressive side hustle for the former First Lady who got no salary as a First Lady when her husband was the president.
She was already rich before marrying Donald Trump as she was a model and a run a jewelry line, and generally luxuriating prior to becoming the First Lady.
What was Melania Trump’s net worth before her marriage to Donald Trump?
Melania was born in former Yugoslavia, now Slovenia, and had a relatively privileged childhood and upbringing, as her father was a part of the Communist Party, to which only a few Slovenians belonged. Melania moved to the U.S. in 1996 to pursue her modeling career, which started to take off at the age of 18. Over the years, she worked hard to make a name for herself and build up her wealth prior to getting married.
According to her official White House biography, Melania earned quite the name for herself as a model, landing covers of magazines like Vanity Fair, Allure, and Harper’s Bazaar. When she married Donald, she even landed the cover of Vogue wearing her Dior wedding gown.
How has Melania built her wealth after being married to Donald?
In 2010, she launched her own jewelry line called Melania™ Timepieces & Jewelry, inspired by the three main locations she lived in at the time: Paris, New York, and Palm Beach. The line was sold through QVC and all the pieces were priced under $200, billed as luxury jewelry at consumer-friendly prices.
Melania has also amassed a considerable amount of wealth through various lawsuits. After starting her jewelry line, Melania also launched a line of skincare products called Melania Caviar Complexe C6, which she had been developing since the early 2000s.
The line was set to be sold at Lord & Taylor but prior to its release, the company that was producing the product went under and the venture was over before it even began. Melania sued the company for breach of contract and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
In 2017, she again added to her net worth after filing a $150 million lawsuit against British tabloid The Daily Mail, for publishing a story that claimed Melania had worked as an escort back in her modeling days. Melania said that the article not only caused her to miss out on several business opportunities, but also resulted in considerable emotional distress. The Daily Mail eventually settled the lawsuit for $2.9 million.
While many First Ladies have been subject to rather brutal takedowns by the media, Melania has been the only one to engage in such fierce litigation. The Telegraph, another British newspaper, agreed to pay substantial damages to Melania after having to retract a story that claimed that her modeling career had struggled until she met Donald.
In 2017, she also sued a blogger from Maryland for yet another undisclosed settlement, when the blogger claimed that Melania had suffered a nervous breakdown after speaking at the Republican National Convention.
