Donald and Melania Trump have “grown apart” and now have a “distant” relationship, according to former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who says the first lady’s reduced presence around her husband has changed the dynamic of his second presidency.
Scaramucci made the claims during a new episode of The Daily Beast Podcast. He said Melania was previously one of the few people willing to tell Donald to “tone it down” and one of the few people the president would sometimes listen to.
The former Trump aide went further when discussing the couple’s living arrangements, saying he believes they are no longer living together. The White House did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment about the first lady’s absence.
Melania has nevertheless maintained a limited public schedule during Donald’s second term. Before returning to the role of first lady in 2025, she said she planned to be based at the White House while traveling to New York and Palm Beach when necessary.
Scaramucci Says Melania Used to Tell Trump to ‘Tone It Down’
Scaramucci argued that one difference between Donald’s first and second administrations is the smaller role played around him by members of his immediate family. “When she was more friendly with him, she would tell him to tone it down and he would actually listen to her,” Scaramucci said of Melania. “There’s very few people that Trump listens to.”
He then argued that Donald has become more emboldened without Melania around as frequently, characterizing the president as more “unhinged.”
Scaramucci served just 11 days as White House communications director during Trump’s first administration in 2017 and later became a prominent critic of his former boss.
He Claims Donald and Melania Have ‘Grown Apart’
When the conversation turned specifically to the marriage, Scaramucci said he believes the relationship has become more distant. “I think it’s distant for a number of different reasons,” he said. “But I think they probably have grown apart.”
He went further when discussing their living arrangement. “It’s pretty clear that they’re not living together,” Scaramucci said. He acknowledged, however, that Melania can still appear alongside Donald and interact warmly with him publicly.
In January, PEOPLE quoted a source who said there was “little interaction” between them outside expected appearances and that they would then “go back to doing their own thing.”
Melania Had Already Said She Would Spend Time in Three Cities
Melania never said she intended to spend every day of Donald’s second presidency beside him in Washington. During a January 2025 Fox & Friends interview, she said she would be “in the White House” but would travel to New York when necessary and Palm Beach when necessary.
Her son Barron was attending New York University at the time, while the Trump family also continued using Mar-a-Lago in Florida. “But my first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife,” Melania said.
She also emphasized her independence from Donald. “But I’m standing on my own two feet, independent,” she said. “I have my own thoughts, I have my own yes and no. I don’t always agree what my husband is saying or doing, and that’s OK.”
Melania said she continued giving him advice when they disagreed. “Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t,” she said. “And that’s okay.”
Her Second-Term Public Schedule Has Been Limited
The Daily Beast reported that Melania was seen publicly 47 times following the January 2025 inauguration and on 38 days during the first seven months of 2026.
Her lower profile was already drawing attention within the first months of the administration, while Melania divided her attention among first-lady initiatives, family responsibilities and projects outside a traditional daily White House schedule.
Scaramucci believes the reduced presence reflects a broader retreat by Trump’s family from Washington. “The family unit that came into Trump 1.0 didn’t like it,” he said. “They didn’t like the blistering in Washington. They didn’t like the 360-degree firing squad. I don’t think they like the spotlight that was put on them.”
Donald and Melania Still Appear Together at Major Events
The couple rang in 2026 together at Mar-a-Lago, where an insider told PEOPLE they kissed at midnight. They had also appeared together during the final months of 2025 at events including the Thanksgiving turkey pardon and the Congressional Ball.
More recently, official White House photographs from July 4, 2026 show Donald and Melania attending the “Salute to America 250” Independence Day celebration together on the National Mall.