The Warning Melania Trump Once Gave Donald Jr.'s Ex-Wife Vanessa
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The Trump family romances are almost as engrossing as their politics. While Eric Trump has been happily married to Lara Trump since 2014, the rest of the Trump men haven't been as lucky with love. The Don has been married three times (with the first marriage ending in a bombshell cheating scandal), and while Donald Trump Jr. is currently engaged to Kimberly Guilfoyle, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Yep, we're talking about the 2012 Aubrey O'Day affair that blew up his former marriage to Vanessa Trump.
Apparently, the Danity Kane singer believed that she and Don Jr. were endgame. "We both thought we were each other's soulmates," she dished. Since then, however, she's changed her tune. "[Don Jr. has] chosen to be in the life that he's in now and be the person that he is now, and that's not the person that I fell in love with," O'Day explained to People.
As a source told Us Weekly, Vanessa "went crazy and was super jealous" after learning of her ex-husband's affair. They ended up staying together for another few years, but by the time they divorced, infidelity was only the tip of the iceberg. Don Jr. reportedly kept Vanessa on a "tight budget," as friends told Page Six in 2018. "[Don Jr.] treats [Vanessa] like a second-class citizen," another source added. Between his stinginess and his affairs, Don Jr. was a walking red flag — but should Vanessa have known better? After all, she was warned.
Melania Trump told Vanessa not to waste her time with Don Jr.
Amid the turbulence of the past few years — impeachment scandals, strippers, and indictments on the mishandling of classified documents — Melania Trump has been a quiet figure at her husband's side. Donald Trump has even praised his wife's "amazing attitude" throughout the media circus. But while the couple often presents a united front in public, privately, Melania harbors a very different opinion of the Trump patriarch. "The Trump men are one and the same — vain and power-hungry," she reportedly told Vanessa Trump, per Us Weekly, when Vanessa turned to her for advice following Donald Trump Jr.'s infidelity. According to a source, Melania went on to say that Vanessa would never come first in Don Jr.'s life and that "offering [him] an ultimatum would be a huge mistake because he would choose his thirst for power like his dad."
Melania's attitude here appears in complete contrast to her public persona. In 2016, the former model called The Don "a leader" in an interview with Fox News' "On The Record." The same year, she told MSNBC host Joe Scarborough that she and her husband "had an amazing relationship." And when The Don was running for president in 2016, she threw her support behind him, even if she wasn't often on the campaign trail. But Melania can't possibly hold her husband in such high regard if her comments to Vanessa are to be believed.
How do Melania and Vanessa really feel about the Trump men?
With Donald Trump back in the spotlight and running for a third time (did he ever really leave?), many speculate that Melania Trump's absence suggests she's fed up with playing the dutiful wife. "Melania is not now or hasn't recently taken part in her husband's political events," a source told People in 2023, adding, "It is not comfortable for her." A separate People article had reported that Melania was "angry" at her husband over his alleged hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and consequently preferred holing up at Mar-a-Lago, "surrounded by people ... who never talk about reality, or bad things about her husband."
It is important to note, however, that Melania has never confirmed these reports. Instead, there are lots of quotes from anonymous sources who allege that she's unhappy in her marriage. On her personal Twitter account, the former First Lady acknowledged these rumors and encouraged Americans "to exercise caution and good judgment when determining whether or not stories concerning [her] are accurate."
In the wake of this, it's hard to substantiate whether Melania really did warn Vanessa Trump about Donald Trump Jr. Vanessa's silence in the wake of their divorce tells us even less! These days, she is suspected to be dating a Secret Service agent — a relationship Carol D. Leonnig discussed in her book "Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service." Another thing we suspect? That Vanessa's divorce papers were full of ironclad NDAs.