Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against Melania Trump has exposed the pretense that the first lady’s primary residence is with her husband in Florida, the president’s biographer says.
Wolff, on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast, explained that Trump’s resistance to being served—and her petition to move the case to federal court—has led him to the conclusion that New York is where she calls home.
“This is the question of the day in this lawsuit: Where does she live?” Wolff, who is suing over the right to question the Trumps on their ties to Jeffrey Epstein, told Daily Beast Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty. “They are either going to have to prove that they live in Florida or accept the fact that she lives in New York.”
The couple’s relationship is “remote at best” and “certainly of a different nature than any president and first lady has ever had,” Wolff said.
“The nature of this is that she lives in New York and he lives somewhere else,” he said, adding that while she has claimed to have a Florida driver’s license, evidence of her ties to New York is in the recently-released Melania documentary.
Melania Trump is seen leaving Trump Tower in June 2024. Presidential biographer Michael Wolff says the first lady is relying on scant evidence that she lives in Florida to try to get his lawsuit against her moved there. / MEGA / GC Images
Melania Trump is seen leaving Trump Tower in June 2024. Presidential biographer Michael Wolff says the first lady is relying on scant evidence that she lives in Florida to try to get his lawsuit against her moved there. / MEGA / GC Images
“The only evidence that they so far have indicated that they have to argue that she is a Florida resident is this driver’s license, and all you need in Florida to get a driver’s license is an address, a second home. Obviously, they have a Mar-a-Lago address and the fact that she votes in Florida, but there too, all you need is an address to vote in Florida,” Wolff said.
“And the law is much clearer on what comprises a residence. A residence is a place where you actually live, where you spend your time, where your connections are, where you have built a life, where your heart is. And in fact, she has said over and over again—and does in Melania, the movie—that New York is where her heart is.”
The 55-year-old is building her brand in the city, Wolff said.
“One of the things that we’ve also been looking at is that she is basically starting a new business life in New York City, and it is a way to exploit her relationship with the president of the United States while actually distancing herself from the president of the United States,” the author said. “So, building a kind of ‘Melania brand’ company—I suppose that’s what it is—is a way for her to gain financial independence and also geographic independence from the president of the United States.”