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Melania Trump ‘just wants to go home’ as president continues to dispute election result

A rumoured run by Donald Trump for president in 2024 would reportedly ‘not go over well’

James Crump
Thursday 10 December 2020 10:39 GMT
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Melania unveils her final White House Christmas decorations

US first lady Melania Trump reportedly just wants to “go home,” as her husband, President Donald Trump, continues to contest the 2020 presidential election.

Although President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election last month, Mr Trump has yet to concede, despite officially launching the transition process.

The president and his campaign team have falsely claimed that there was widespread voter fraud in the election, and have filed around 50 unsuccessful lawsuits in battleground states that Mr Biden won. The Trump team has so far provided no definitive evidence of any large-scale voting irregularities.

When asked about the first lady’s current state of mind, amid the legal action, a source close to Ms Trump told CNN that she “just wants to go home.”

It is currently unclear where “home” will be for the Trump family when they are forced to leave the White House after Mr Biden is inaugurated on 20 January.

However, a report in People last week suggested that the couple and their 14-year-old son, Barron Trump, will predominantly live in Florida, but also spend time in Trump Tower in New York City.

Sources close to the US president told People that he and his family are planning on moving down to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, at the end of his term in January.

“They are definitely renovating his apartment within the Mar-a-Lago Club to make it larger, more modern, and comfortable for his use,” one source told the magazine.

“Mar-a-Lago is iconic, a building he took great pride in renovating when he bought it,” the source added. “It makes sense that he wants to be there and will make the mansion his home.”

Ms Trump has reportedly also been looking at schools in the area for Barron to attend once the family has left the White House.

“They have looked all over Palm Beach County and neighbouring Broward County for just the right place,” a source close to the US first lady said.

“There are several options, and they will decide soon,” they added.

Although Ms Trump has shown support for her husband in public, including joining him at a rally in Georgia last weekend ahead of runoff Senate elections in the state, the source told CNN that her mindset is different in private.

When asked about rumours that Mr Trump will run again for president in 2024, the source said that it “might not go over well” with the first lady.

Although Ms Trump is reportedly keen to leave Washington, DC, she has been spending her last months in the White House working on renovations of the residence’s Rose Garden and tennis pavilion.

Ms Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told CNN that she is currently focused on the renovations and her duties as the first lady.

“Mrs Trump is focused on her role as first lady. Monday she unveiled her most current effort in preserving the White House by announcing the completion of the tennis pavilion,” Ms Grisham said.

She added: “She also recently unveiled a new piece of art in the newly renovated Rose Garden. Her office just revealed this year's Christmas décor. Her schedule remains full with her duties as a mother, wife and first lady of the United States.”

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