Melania's Rumored Advice For Vanessa Trump During Her Don Jr. Split Was So Brutal
The Trump family shares many traits, but three stand above the rest: Blond hair, weak chins, and infidelity. Former President Donald Trump and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are truly the embodiment of the idiom that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Donald cheated on his first wife, Ivana Trump, with Marla Maples, whom he later married. Their union didn't last, and along came Melania Trump, who's stuck by Donald's side through bucketloads of drama, which is mostly due to — you guessed it — his alleged cheating with an adult performer.
It makes sense, then, that Melania was the perfect person to give some much-needed advice to Vanessa Trump, who found out that her former husband, Donald Trump Jr, cheated on her with former "Celebrity Apprentice" contestant Aubrey O'Day in 2012. Vanessa reportedly approached Melania in 2018 to ask for some relationship advice in the hopes of saving her marriage, which, according to sources who spoke to People, was never quite the same after Jr.'s infidelity.
The former first lady was happy to provide some counsel to her daughter-in-law, but it wasn't exactly what one would expect, though it undoubtedly shone a light on how well Melania really knows the Trump men — whether intentionally or otherwise. Some might even say that Melania's advice to simply suck it up and get on with it was more than a little eyebrow-raising but there's no doubt that she was being brutally honest based on her own personal experience with Donald.
Melania's relationship advice to Vanessa was quite shocking
Apparently, Melania Trump isn't the coddling type, and when Vanessa Trump came to her for relationship advice, she gave it to her straight. "Melania told her, 'The Trump men are one and the same — vain and power-hungry,'" a source disclosed to Us Weekly. The former model made it clear that Vanessa shouldn't waste her time attempting to change Donald Trump Jr., that it was impossible, because of who he is at his core. "[She told Vanessa that] offering her husband an ultimatum would be a huge mistake because he would choose his thirst for power like his dad," the insider added.
While pretty brutal (and likely not what Vanessa wanted, or expected, to hear), Melania should be considered a trusted advisor. She has carried the title of Mrs. Trump longer than both ex-wives, and according to her former White House senior advisor, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania is very similar to her husband. As she wrote in a column for the Daily Beast, "The truth is Melania knows and supports Donald and his viewpoints [...] She's his biggest cheerleader," adding, "She's a ruthless survivor and opportunist — willing to do whatever it takes to resort to any means necessary for self-preservation."
The former first lady even offered some relationship advice to Wolkoff once too: "'Just let him do what he's going to do. Why get in a fight about something that won't change?' she'd say to me." In light of this information, her frank instructions to Vanessa make sense.
Melania's understanding of the Trump men is likely the reason she's still married to one
Given her blunt response to Vanessa Trump about how the Trump men are nothing but power-hungry dastards, it's clear that Melania's lavish life comes at a price, and she seems to understand the implications better than many people realize. This is perhaps why she's stayed married to Donald Trump despite it all. Still, the former model notably refuses to be publicly embarrassed by her husband's philandering. Melania didn't attend a single court hearing during Donald's New York fraud trial and hasn't made any appearances at any of her husband's 2024 presidential campaign stops either — except at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where Melania's speech had everyone talking.
According to her former senior adviser, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, she's under no illusion about who and what her husband is. In May 2024, Wolkoff took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to post a text thread between herself and Melania from 2016. "I was worried sick about Melania hours before Donald's 2nd presidential debate," Wolkoff admitted. But to her surprise, the former first lady appeared to be handling it just fine with seemingly no concern about the raging media tempest. "It's an unconventional marriage & she's complicit," Wolkoff summarized, noting, "Remember that Melania does not care what anyone thinks about her or Donald. She knows who she married and so does he."