Nia-Malika Henderson, Columnist

Where Is Melania Trump? Right Where She Wants to Be

First lady is one of the strangest and least forgiving unpaid jobs in the world. Not every presidential spouse should be compelled to do it.

May 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC

By Nia-Malika Henderson

Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former senior political reporter for CNN and the Washington Post, she has covered politics and campaigns for almost two decades.

Showing up how she wants to.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP

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Melania Trump began her first term in the White House with #FreeMelania trending online, as observers imagined that she was held hostage to her husband’s ideology, rather than a true believer. The saying also captured the peculiar job of the First Lady as a sort of compulsory plus-one to the president.

Now, months into her second term, there is a different phrase that will likely dominate her tenure: Where’s Melania?