Voters share their stance on Melania Trump’s absence from the White House in her husband’s second term

Melania Trump is set to be the First Lady of the United States once again. However, this time around, it is uncertain if she will be moving to Washington D.C. permanently when her husband resumes his position in the White House.

But according to U.S. voters, she has every right to stay behind be it at their home in Florida or New York. 

A recent poll conducted by J.L. Partners, exclusively for DailyMail.com, among registered voters shows that many people are in favor of Melania Trump residing somewhere other than the White House.

22 percent said they strongly supported her living somewhere else while ten percent somewhat supported it.

Meanwhile, only 11 percent strongly oppose her living somewhere other than the White House as first lady while just six percent somewhat opposed it. 

If Trump does not live in the White House full time during her husband’s second term, she would not be the first presidential spouse to do so. 

Historical accounts reveal that previous First Ladies have also chosen to spend significant time away from the White House. For instance, First Lady Elizabeth Johnson only participated in two White House events during her husband’s 4-year term. Similarly, First Lady Bess Truman opted to stay in Independence, Missouri for an extended period while the White House underwent renovations that lasted over 5 years. These insights were shared by Diana Carlin, who is a founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education.

First Lady Martha Washington waited a month after his inauguration to join the very first U.S. president. First Lady Abigail Adams spent less than half her husband’s time in office with him due to family illnesses. 

‘The beauty of the position is that it is not constitutionally or legally constituted,’ Carlin said. 

‘There is no rule book. Thus, a first lady can do as little or as much as she wishes and can define the position her way.’

In her first interview since the election, Trump shared more on Friday about her own efforts as her husband prepares for a second term.

Trump told Fox News that she has been busy putting together hew own transition team, working on her office, organizing the residence and packing.

 ‘This time is very different because we already know where we’re going and we already have all of the plans from before, so we don’t need to go back in,’ Trump said of preparations. 

She said the move in 2020 was much more challenging. Her team is already in contact with the White House this go round. 

‘It’s very different because I know what you need to establish. You know what kind of people you need to hire to be in your office, so that’s what I’m doing now.

During her first four years as first lady, Trump launched her Be Best initiative, a public awareness campaign that focused on the wellbeing of young people and ending cyberbullying.

Asked about her plans for her next four years as first lady, Trump mentioned her program but also brought up some of her work since leaving the White House. 

‘After I left the White House, I established my Web3 and Web2 platforms where I design, where I have collectibles like ornaments every season. This is the third season and many other collectibles that are available now,’ she said. 

‘So with those, I — I have students from a foster community that I sponsor, and I’m very proud of, and we have many of them now. So their lives changes because they will have an education,’ she added. 

Since leaving Washington in 2021, Trump has launched a series of business ventures including Christmas ornaments, but also NFTs and jewelry. 

She also released her memoir ‘Melania’ in early October in which she wrote about her experience as first lady and relationship with Trump.

Moving forward, more Americans than not support Trump being able to take profits from her businesses during her time as first lady, according to DailyMail.com’s polling.

22 percent strongly support her being able to while 15 percent said they somewhat support it. 

 At the same time, 22 percent strongly oppose it while 7 percent somewhat oppose it.

But as Trump prepares for her husband’s second term, she has long been charting her own course even as her husband launched his reelection bid for a second term more than two years ago.

While some political spouses have made frequent appearances on the campaign trail in an election season including First Lady Jill Biden and former First Lady Michelle Obama as well as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Trump was largely absent from political events during her husband’s 2024 campaign. 

Trump was all smiles standing by his side as the president-elect celebrated on Election Night, but she made very few campaign appearances throughout 2024.

Trump showed up in a fiery red dress at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July where she waved to the crowd, but she did not deliver remarks. 

More recently, she did give a campaign speech introducing her husband at his Madison Square Garden rally in New York City just days before the election.  

Instead of tirelessly hitting the campaign trail, the incoming first lady more frequently stepped into the public spotlight in the final stretch to promote her book. 

During her first post-election interview on Fox on Friday, Trump continued to promote her book heading into the holiday season as well as other merchandise she has launched.