Will Melania stick with Trump until the end – or will she jump?

The images were lifted from Melania’s past shoots as a model, and some definitely verge on soft porn, such as her 1996 shoot with photographer Jarl Ale de Basseville, for the French men’s magazine, Max. 

I defended Melania at the time, saying she shouldn’t be shamed for that work, and that the only valid criticism of her is that she is publicly married to and supportive of an openly racist and misogynistic man. 

Her active involvement in the negotiation of a truce between Russia and Ukraine in regards to the city of Oleshky would seem to be further evidence of her ability to do things on her own terms, separate to Trump (and perhaps more effectively without him), and is proof of her stepping outside the bounds and expectations of a trophy wife. 

But I still think that she should be held to account, not through respectability politics, which smears every other woman who uses their body or sex appeal to get places, but because of her support for Trump and his views. It’s pertinent to note that she has also defended herself against this shaming, saying on Twitter in 2024 that she stands “proudly behind [her] nude modelling work”. 

There has been much discussion of the Trumps’ relationship, and how much autonomy she has within it. Given his history of harassing women, including ex-wife Ivana’s assertion that he raped her during their marriage (an allegation she later withdrew), Melania has come to be viewed as another of his victims, a woman controlled and abused by a powerful man. 

Yet while there is a clear power dynamic between them, influenced by age, wealth, gender and (originally and importantly) citizenship status, I don’t think it’s accurate to view her as completely passive. The Trumps’ accounts of their early relationship make Melania sound knowing in her approach; gaining insight into what he liked in women and what might hold his attention. She refused to give him her number when they met in 1998 and took his instead, saying she didn’t want to be “just one of the women he calls”. 

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There is an ongoing discussion about the sometimes blurred lines between sex work, nude modelling and even traditional roles in marriage. Melania has won restrictions and damages from media organisations and individuals who claimed she worked as an escort before meeting Trump, but her journey is one from posing for nude photos meant to titillate men to the ultimate position of trophy wife. 

That term should not eliminate choice and agency from her though, and it would be a disservice to all the other working class and migrant women who access financial stability this way to suggest it does. 

Something I find very interesting about Melania is that she feels comfortable at times expressing opinions that are either not aligned with her husband’s public ones, or not conducive to his or his party’s vision. In her 2024 memoir Melania, she defended abortion, stating that “a woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.” 

In a more recent interview on Fox News, when she was asked about growing up under communism in Slovenia (formerly part of Yugoslavia), and expected to condemn it, she answered that, “I grew up under the communism, and actually I didn’t miss anything. I feel I had a very beautiful childhood.”

This is indicative of a more complicated power dynamic than some people would like to imagine; one that is possibly becoming even more complicated as Trump becomes further impaired by age. 

In a traditional marriage, the husband is expected to provide and care for the wife, in return for her loyalty, homemaking and caring for their children. As a husband ages and begins to require more care, both physically and mentally, there is a shift in the power dynamic between husband and wife, and sometimes a complete reversal of the carer role. 

A friend of mine whose father was 30 years older than her migrant mother witnessed him domineering her for the first 15 years of her life, and then saw it shift to him being at her mercy, in need of help in every moment, from getting out of bed to arranging doctor’s appointments and going to the toilet. 

Of course, Donald is well off enough that as he is inevitably incapacitated with age, he can easily outsource that care to people other than his wife. It’s possible that there was originally an emotional bond, and it wasn’t just a mutually beneficial marriage that afforded status to both of them – her as the wife of a rich American, and him as the husband of a hot younger model. 

But it seems, from an outsider’s perspective, that there is very little love and affection between the two of them now. 

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Perhaps Melania feels that she has already provided her side of the bargain, and taking into account Donald’s ego and personality, I’m sure he feels he has upheld his. It’s easy to see how she would not feel the sense of owing him anything in his cognitive and physical decline – maybe the illusion of loyalty and togetherness is all that she needs to keep up. 

However, even if he is moved away from Melania, his changing state will impact her and their power dynamic. It could be that his demands will become more erratic, or he will be less able to assert them – or even that she can rely on his forgetting them entirely, leaving her free to do as she wants.

I would be very surprised if, after 21 years of marriage, they divorce, as I can only imagine that their marriage of convenience has become more convenient for her as he has declined. 

She has also signed a pre-nuptial agreement, the conditions of which could be extensive. It is impossible to know what is in that agreement – but arrangements of that sort invariably mean one thing: being his widow is in her financial interest.