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Donald and Melania Trump holding hands outside the White House

Donald and Melania Trump's unique sleeping arrangements in 'complicated' relationship

The former model reportedly stayed on a different level of The White House

Nichola Murphy
Deputy Lifestyle Editor
October 18, 2023
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Former US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump had access to 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and six levels during their time living in The White House, but they reportedly chose different bedrooms.

While it is conventional for a couple to share the same sleeping quarters, Donald and Melania had a more unusual set-up, with the former model even delaying her move into the famous Pennsylvania Avenue residence for one year after her husband. This was thought to be because she was staying with her son Barron while he finished his high school education in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

barron trump
The former model stayed in Manhattan while her son finished high school

However, when he enrolled at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Maryland and they officially moved in with Donald, Melania chose to sleep in a different bed, according to Michael Wolff's book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. "Trump, in fact, found the White House to be vexing and even a little scary," he wrote. "He retreated to his own bedroom - the first time since the Kennedy White House that a presidential couple had maintained separate rooms."

While Trump later criticized the book, dismissing it as "really boring and untruthful" on X, formerly known as Twitter, several others have similarly claimed that they have separate sleeping arrangements. 

Donald Trump lived in the White House without his wife for one year© Shutterstock
Donald Trump lived in the White House without his wife for one year

Biographer Mary Jordan, who interviewed White House staff, housekeepers and more spoke about their "complicated" marriage, telling CNN: "They’ve been together 22 years. And, by all accounts, Donald Trump is not the easiest person to be with for 22 years.

"I’ve interviewed many people who’ve been to dinner with them, seen them up close, worked for them, and there is a real connection there. But it has changed over time and it goes up and down.

The couple reportedly slept on different floors© Leigh Vogel/UPI/Shutterstock
The couple reportedly slept on different floors

"Love is complicated and, as they say, Trump love is really complicated. They spend a shocking amount of time physically apart. And yet, the first call he often makes after a speech or a rally is to her. It’s a mystery."

The author also wrote: "I don’t know any couple that spends as much time apart. They are often in the same building, but nowhere near each other. She rarely goes into the West Wing. She doesn’t like to golf. She has her own little spa. She likes to be isolated. She is a loner. He is a loner. They’re perfectly happy to be separated.”

The exterior of the White House in Washington, DC. © Alex Wong
The White House has 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms

So where in The White House did they stay? In her book Free, Melania, Kate Bennett said that Trump slept in the White House master suite, while Melania had her own two-room suite on the third floor, where Michelle Obama's mother Marian Robinson stayed. 

The couple got married at a Florida church on January 22, 2005 in front of guests including Bill and Hilary Clinton, Elton John and Simon Cowell.

WATCH: Melania Trump shares rare look inside the White House at Christmas

Dad-of-five Donald was previously married to Ivana Zelnickova from 1977 to 1990, and they share three children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric. His second marriage was to actress Marla Maples in 1993, and they welcomed a daughter named Tiffany before getting divorced in 1999.

LOOK: Donald Trump's wife Melania rocks waist-cinching gown to stepdaughter's 20-acre nuptials

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