Trump biographer insists Donald and Melania are 'separated' despite White House branding him a liar

WASHINGTON, DC: A controversial biographer has claimed that Donald and Melania Trump are basically "separated."

According to author Michael Wolff, the couple may be living very separate lives behind all that public display of affection. 

On Tuesday, May 13’s episode of 'The Daily Beast' podcast, Wolff and host Joanna Coles dissected the early chaos of Trump’s second term and Melania’s mysterious absence from the White House.

Trump biographer says Donald and Melania's marriage is a mirage

“They clearly do not in any way inhabit a marriage as we define marriage,” Michael Wolff said. “I think maybe we can more specifically say they live separate lives. They are separated. The President of the United States and the first lady are separated.”

Wolff called the first lady’s absence “head-smacking” and pointed to a “cute” feature in The New York Times that clocked just how rarely she’s been spotted in Washington, DC, since Inauguration Day. 

“I think the message was about how many times she’d been to the White House or how many days she’d been there in the first 100 days, right?” Coles asked. “And it turned out to be 14.”

According to the New York Times, Melania has been “vanishing from view for weeks at a time,” holing up in New York or at the couple’s luxe Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. While unnamed officials downplayed the optics by saying she’s at the White House more often than the public knows, they couldn’t say how long she actually stays there. 

While many picture Trump and Melania as a rather glamorous presidential couple, Wolff says the reality is far less polished.

“But they didn’t go and say, ‘This is obviously a marriage in trouble,’” he said of The Times coverage. “The American public has been sold a bill of goods here that, you know, Donald Trump and his glamorous wife. That runs entirely counter to all of the facts here, including the fact that they don’t spend any time together.”

The Trump team has previously bashed Wolff's credibility. “Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s**t and has been proven to be a fraud,” Trump’s White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement. 

“He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain," Cheung added.

Donald Trump gushes over wife Melania

Despite the drama, Donald and Melania Trump have often been spotted looking like a loved-up couple. Just last week, the POTUS poured on the charm when the two appeared together at the White House’s Celebration of Military Mothers.

Body language expert Judi James said, “Trump is in the mode of a man who is smitten, chivalrous, and even in awe here. His introduction ends with him calling her 'honey' as he invites her onto the stage, extending his hand to take hers before performing a reward kiss on her cheek.” 

After Melania’s speech, Trump praised her parenting skills.

“I especially want to thank one of the best moms that I know, that I've ever seen. Sometimes, she's almost too good,” he said. “She's so good with Barron that he's grown up strong and nice and he's a good boy, he's a good student, so I want to thank you. You've done a great job.”

Some believe Donald and Melania Trump's marriage is stronger than ever

Despite the whispers, not everyone’s convinced the Trumps are living separate lives. In fact, some insiders claim that their bond might be stronger than ever.

Last month, Melania traveled with Trump to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral, where the two were spotted walking hand-in-hand through the Vatican. When they returned to the US—just in time for Melania’s birthday—Trump gave her a brief goodbye kiss before they reportedly went their separate ways again.

Mary Jordan, a Washington Post journalist and author of 'The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump', believes the couple has quietly grown closer.

“Melania and Donald are now spending more time together and appearing as more of a couple than they have in the past. They've been in a bunker together and they've come out of it closer,” Jordan told The Times.

She also pointed out that Melania’s main priority right now is Barron Trump, the couple’s 19-year-old son who’s currently attending NYU.

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