Melania Trump walked away from her husband, leaving him to wave at the cameras by himself. Video / ABC News
Nearly a week on from their White House exit, Melania Trump is reportedly "counting down the minutes" until she can divorce the former president.
In a new interview, Donald Trump's niece, Mary Trump – who last year wrote a scathing memoir of her uncle in which she deemed him the "world's most dangerous man" – claimed he doesn't "understand affection or intimacy".
As Trump's presidential term came to an end, many speculated on the future of his third marriage. While he held on to power, fighting tooth and nail for weeks and claiming that election fraud was behind Joe Biden's stunning and history election victory, the 50-year-old former model was focused on orchestrating a swift exit from Washington DC.
Donald and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House on January 20 in Washington. Photo / Getty Images
"Melania is 'checked out'," one White House source told CNN, in the wake of the deadly January 6 siege on the US Capitol.
"She just isn't in a place mentally or emotionally anymore where she wants to get involved."
"I think she was a reluctant first lady and she did it for her husband," society publicist R Couri Hay, an acquaintance of Melania's in New York, told The New York Times.
After she leaves Washington, he said, "I think that you will find that she will be even less visible, and less available.
"Quite frankly," he said, "I think America should just let her go."
The rumours were stoked in recent days after an expressionless Melania walked away from her husband, leaving him to wave at the cameras by himself, as the couple stepped off Air Force One in Florida last Thursday.
It wasn't the first time footage had aired of Melania pulling away from the 74-year-old – over the years a number of clips have gone viral, sparking a flurry of speculation about their relationship.
Former President Donald Trump and Melania Trump waves upon arrival from their final flight on Air Force One. Photo / AP
Trump's former aide and The Apprentice star Omarosa Manigault Newman – whose explosive book Unhinged offers a behind-the-scenes look into the Trump administration and their marriage – has also claimed the 16-year marriage was in its dying days.
"It's a very strange marriage. I'm very cautious to comment on the dynamics of a marriage because you never know what goes on behind close doors," she told British breakfast television show Lorrainelast October.
"But I have known this couple since they were dating, they got married a year after The Apprentice aired.
"What I have observed in the last 17 years would make your head spin. Sometimes they like each other but sometimes she (Melania) is repulsed by him."
Mary Trump, author of Too Much and Never Enough. Photo / Peter Serling, Simon & Schuster
Former aide and friend of the first lady Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has also spoken of the bizarre nature of the Trumps' marriage, alleging in November the pair – who have one son together, 14-year-old Barron – had separate bedrooms in the White House and "a transactional marriage".
"Donald got arm candy, the Vogue cover legitimised Melania which legitimised Donald as well, and Melania got two dynamic decades," she told BBC's Newsnight.
"She was a young model, she was striving, she didn't have the success yet. She met Donald, she married, she had a son, she became an American citizen and 10 years after that, she is the first lady of the United States.
"So I do believe it was a magic moment and I also believe it was a made-for-TV moment."
Meanwhile, Mary Trump predicted a "grim" future for her uncle Donald while facing a loss of relevance and legal threats.
The clinical psychologist told CNN that Trump's last day in office was "probably the worst day of his life".
"This is probably the worst day of his life, because the clock is ticking and he's running out of time," Mary told CNN's Anderson Cooper last week.
"The other thing I just want to point out about that speech, it was reminiscent of a video he made after the insurrection saying the movement is just beginning, which seems like a bit of a threat to me," Mary Trump said.
"My hope is that he be as contained as possible. He's going to do whatever he can or believes he can to change the narrative and I think we're going to see that play out with some of these pardons in excess of 100, if I'm hearing that correctly, and some of these pardons will be quite horrific, some of them will be strategic."
