First Lady Melania Trump admitted her family life is ‘suffering’ because she and President Donald Trump are often too busy to sit down to have dinner together.
Asked on FOX Business how the couple find time for family meals, she was blunt.
‘You know my husband is working. Sometimes he’s in the Oval Office till 9:30 at night, right? So do you wait that you will have dinner? You don’t, because he’s busy. I’m busy too.’
‘But we try to find time. It’s less and less the family time, it’s suffering because of it.’
She said they try to make time but added, ‘We are here to work to do a good job, and that’s what matters.’
She also pointed out that son Barron, now 20, is a young adult with his own interests and schedule.
Melania was in New York City for UN General Assembly week and had just rung the New York Stock Exchange bell to launch Imperia, her new initiative for women in business.
She used the interview to push back on her low public profile, insisting she has been busy behind the scenes on causes including AI in children’s education, foster youth and international diplomacy.
In a Fox News Business interview on Wednesday, First Lady Melania Trump admitted that her family time with her husband and son is ‘suffering,’ and she insisted that their priority is doing their jobs and ‘to do a good job.’
July was her quietest month, with only two public appearances. The July 4 Independence Day celebrations in Washington and the FIFA World Cup final on July 19 in New Jersey
First Lady Melania Trump attends President Donald Trump addresses at the 81st United Nations General Assembly on September 22
When Melania does emerge, it tends to be for something very specific, and this week, there was certainly no shortage of reasons to be seen.
She took part in events during the UN assembly connected to her Fostering the Future initiative, which focuses on children, education and technology.
She was also at the state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan.
She said she helped with preparations for the dinner, which took place Thursday night in the East Room.
Melania joined President Trump in greeting Xi and Peng at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, before welcoming them again at the White House the following evening.
The two couples posed for photographs, and Melania and Peng were seen chatting and smiling together during the welcome.
It was a lot of Melania in a very short amount of time, especially for someone who has spent much of the year keeping a relatively low profile.
Earlier this year, she went 32 days without a major public appearance before returning to the White House Rose Garden in August.
Trump poses for a photo with others at her Fostering the Future Together event during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 22
Trump signs the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) guestbook, after ringing the opening bell on September 23
First Lady of China Peng Liyuan, Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump pose on the South Portico prior to a tea at the White House on September 24
Her public appearances thinned steadily as the summer wore on.
In May she attended a Military Mother’s Day event and the Congressional Picnic. By June they were rarer, among them the Presidential AI Challenge awards at the White House. In July she appeared at the Fourth of July celebrations and at the World Cup final in New Jersey on July 19, then dropped out of public view for 32 days.
The absence became a talking point. When she finally returned in the Rose Garden in August, she addressed it herself: ‘I heard you missed me?’
The quip did little to settle long-running questions about how much time the First Lady actually spends in Washington.
Journalist Michael Wolff has alleged that she remains largely based in New York and has questioned whether she has spent a single night at the White House during Trump’s second term.
The White House disputes those claims. Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s former communications director, has spoken publicly about the couple’s separate schedules, suggesting her life is split between New York, Washington and Florida.
Where she has been visible is on AI. Melania has pushed for the technology to be taught in schools, arguing that children need to understand it rather than simply be shielded from it.
On a recent visit to a North Carolina elementary school that has partnered with NVIDIA on AI learning tools, she urged students to try building their own robots.
During Trump’s first presidency, Melania famously remained in New York for several months while their son Barron finished the school year, prompting intense speculation about her living arrangements.
The White House at the time rejected claims that she was refusing to live at the presidential residence.
Melania has made it clear that she has her own priorities and projects, and she doesn’t necessarily feel the need to be alongside her husband at every appearance.
And while Washington is technically home while Donald Trump is president, Melania’s connection to Palm Beach remains strong.
The Trumps actually changed their official residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach back in 2019, making Mar-a-Lago their permanent residence.
A 2025 court filing also listed Mar-a-Lago as Melania’s permanent address.
