Melania Trump, the former and incoming first lady, said in an interview broadcast Monday that she planned to live and work full time in the White House during Donald Trump’s second term, addressing speculation about whether she would be a regular presence in Washington.
Melania Trump told “Fox and Friends” that she would travel as needed to New York, her longtime home where she stayed regularly during her husband’s first term, and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which has become his official state of residence.
“When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,” she said. “When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.”
She offered some hints about her likely role in the second Trump White House. She said she would continue her “Be Best” campaign, a program targeting youth mental health issues and social media use, and said she was still hiring staff members for her office — people she said would not have “their own agenda.”
Melania Trump did not immediately move in to the White House when her husband was inaugurated in 2017, but she said the second move-in would be more routine.
“This time I have everything,” she said. “I have the plans. I could move in. I already packed. I already selected the, you know, furniture that needs to go in.”
The Fox interview came as Melania Trump has increased her public profile after largely going out of sight after Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat.