Donald Trump is once again moving into the White House. As of Wednesday morning, networks such as CNN and Fox, as well as news agencies such as the Associated Press, have all called the election for the controversial politician, who held his victory speech late Tuesday with his wife, Melania Trump, by his side.
The build-up to the election has been quite different for the husband and wife duo when compared with 2016 and 2020. Melania was barely seen with her husband for the entirety of this presidential campaign, instead remaining in New York City.
Just what will happen moving forward regarding her moving back into the White House again or not, only time will tell. Interestingly, a debate about whether Melania Trump was really at her husband’s side when Donald cast his vote for the 2024 election has taken the internet by storm. Was it a body double? Well, some say there’s one detail that proves so.
Late Tuesday evening, many television networks and newspapers began projecting President-elect Donald Trump as America’s 47th president. Now it’s done.
He becomes only the second-ever President to win two nonconsecutive terms, and in January will return to the White House once more. Early Wednesday, Trump addressed his supporters from Florida, thanking them for their support.
Donald Trump praised wife Melania Trump during victory speech
“We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders, and we’re going to fix everything about our country,” Trump said. He added a promise to the American people that “every single day I will be fighting for you,” continuing to claim it would be the “golden age of America.”
Trump was surrounded by his close family, including his wife, Melania Trump, and his children. He and Melania’s son, Barron Trump, just turned 18 and voted for the first time in the election. In his speech early Wednesday, Trump praised Melania, calling her memoir the top-selling book in the country.
“She works very hard to help people. So, I just wanted to thank her,” Trump said.
Melania was at her husband’s side during his past presidential campaigns, but in 2024, it was a whole different story. The former POTUS released her memoir earlier this year, and in its pages openly disagreed with her husband’s stance on abortion, stating that she supported women’s reproductive rights.
“It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” Melania wrote in her memoir Melania.
Why Melania Trump has been absent from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” she added. “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
After her husband lost to President Joe Biden in the 2020 race, Melania largely retreated from the public eye. She has remained absent from Donald Trump’s public endeavors, including most of his most recent presidential campaign.
What she’s been up to instead was on many people’s minds, not least Trump voters. During a town hall meeting in February, Fox News Host Laura Ingraham asked Donald if Melania would join him at his rallies. Trump explained that Melania’s dedication lay with their son, Barron.
“They love her, I’ll tell you,” Trump responded. “And you know her. She’s a very brilliant person. She speaks many languages, the whole thing.”
“Her life revolves around that boy, [he’s] so important to her. At the same time, it also revolves around our country and the success of our country. She’s raised a lot of money for charity.”
Barron Trump began his first year at New York University in September. That is reportedly why Melania hasn’t been with her husband on the campaign trail; instead, she has focused on supporting her son.
Melania Trump “not likely” to use White House as primary residence, source says
The former and future First Lady has barely spoken about her husband and his presidential campaign, and many have wondered whether she will accompany him to the White House.
People Magazine spoke to sources “in Melania’s orbit” about it.
“If Melania becomes first lady again, of course people expect her to move into the White House and perform appropriate duties,” a source close to the Trump family said, adding that Melania isn’t keen on relocating to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
“She will have her private living apartment there, and she has her home in New York, and her home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. She will spend time in all of these places,” the source added, concluding that it’s “not likely” that the White House will be her primary residence.
In the end, on election day, Melania Trump finally appeared by her husband’s side when they went to cast their vote at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida.
Social media users were quick to comment on Melania’s lack of enthusiasm for being back in the spotlight, with one claiming that she even looked as if she was “attending a funeral.”
Body language expert says Melania Trump looked “solemn”
It wasn’t only social media users on X that had a say about Melania. Body language expert Judi James told the Mirror that Melania’s election day look was very different from her past styles.
“By Melania’s normal standards this is a very subdued, down-played look as she accompanies her rather low-energy-looking husband with his slumped shoulders and face partly-covered by a baseball cap to cast their votes,” Judi told the Mirror. “Her smile seems almost compensatory here as Trump’s facial expression is rather solemn and he graciously and gallantly motions for her to walk in first.”
The body language expert continued: “Melania’s FLOTUS looks tended to be high-vis numbers that became increasingly tailored, high-status power-suits towards the end of their term, so this casual shirt dress with her hair softly flowing to the side has no echoes of that previous stint. The Trump’s mood here might have been self-described as ‘confident’ but that sentiment is not reflected in their body language in these photos.”
So, Melania might not have looked enthusiastic about being back in the spotlight. But according to a new theory, she wasn’t even there at all. The internet went wild over a quite absurd theory that claimed it was, in fact, a body double.
‘Fake Melania Trump’ theory floods social media
Melania Trump wore a chic Christian Dior black-and-white polka dot dress, the same she wore for her Fox News interview in September to promote her memoir. However, as Medias Touch editor Ron Filipkowski shared a clip with Melania stating that she had “been wearing sunglasses inside all day today,” the conspiracy theories began spreading,
Some claimed she had been swapped with a body double for the cameras. “This is absolutely, categorically not Melania,” one X user wrote, as per Daily Mail. “This imposter’s been wearing sunglasses indoors all day.”
A second said: ‘How is a man who walks around with a fake wife even a contender for president?’ Another X user claimed: “The check didn’t clear in time for the real Melania to make an appearance, so they had to bring the doppelganger off the bench.”
As reported by the Daily Beast, another user stated that several details ‘proved’ it was a “fake Melania.”
“Rings missing, wrong nail style & length, no smile lines in the jawline [or] lower cheek, bust is half the size it should be,” one stated, while another said that the woman in the video looked “20 years younger” than Melania Trump.
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Сlаudiа Саrdinаlе: Неrе’s whаt thе Itаliаn film iсоn lооks likе аt 85
Claudia Cardinale is Italy’s counterpart to France’s Brigitte Bardot. She quickly rose to stardom to almost just as quickly disappear from the scene later on. Now, Claudia Cardinale celebrates her 85th birthday.
The Italian star was originally discovered at a beauty contest held in 1957 by the Unitalia film company. The “most beautiful Italian woman of Tunis” subsequently won a trip to the Venice Film Festival that was to become a decisive turning point in her life. The sultry young woman was born on April 15, 1938, in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Her mother was French, and her father Italian.
In 1958, Cardinale, known as CC, played her first role in “Goha” opposite Omar Sharif before being trained as an actress at the Italian Film Academy in Rome. Her talents as an actress renowned for her dauntless rambunctiousness gained her fame, and her gaze into the camera became legendary.
Famous director Luchino Visconti gave her minor roles in “Rocco and his Brothers” (1960), as well as in the historical drama “The Leopard” (1962) with Alain Delon. As she later recounted in a biographical interview, she rebuffed all of her famous film partners, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster.
A beauty queen turned into a film diva
Cardinale is Italy’s counterpart of Brigitte Bardot. But in contrast to Bardot, Cardinale never appeared nude in a film: “I always thought it was more erotic to leave some room to imagination, hinting at things rather than showing everything,” she told the German magazine Stern in 2014.
CC achieved her breakthrough with her performance in the highly popular Italo western “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1969). The classical western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson was shot in Rome’s Cinecittà studios and in Spain with some scenes set in Utah’s Monument Valley. The film that flopped in the US only acquired cult status in Europe.
CC’s career already saw a downswing in the 1970s. She then turned to television films, especially entertainment films where she showed some talent as a comedian. She got her last main role in a movie in 1971 when she starred opposite her main rival, Brigitte Bardot, in the Italo western comedy “Frenchie King.”
Spending time in a jungle with Werner Herzog
Ten years later, CC starred in German director Werner Herzog’s historical film “Fitzcarraldo” (1981). Although Claudia Cardinale had a difficult time enduring the bouts of anger of her eccentric film partner Klaus Kinski, she greatly enjoyed shooting and working with director Werner Herzog: “Being in the middle of the jungle with insects all around me and nothing to eat was one of my most wonderful adventures,” she later stated.
Claudia Cardinale and other heroines of European film
Claudia Cardinale is seen as Italy’s counterpart to France’s Brigitte Bardot. The actress who became a star in the 1950s and 60s now celebrates her 85th birthday.
Claudia Cardinale
She’s the youngest of Italy’s three major female stars. Claudia Cardinale worked with outstanding directors like Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini. She fascinated audiences with her charming smile and acting skills in westerns, among them “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “The Professionals” (pictured).
Gina Lollobrigida
One of the most highly acclaimed European stars of the 1950s and 60s was Gina Lollobrigida who was born in the East of Rome in 1927. “Lollo” even made it to Hollywood where she was equally showered with praise. In the 1970s, however, she withdrew from showbiz.
Sophia Loren
Another Italian actress, Sophia Loren, who was a few years younger than Lollo, became her fiercest rival. The mutual hatred and jealousy of the two stars was a frequent topic in tabloids. In contrast to Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren continued to perform in movies even as an older woman.
Brigitte Bardot
During the same time, another sexpot rose to stardom in France with movies like “And God Created Woman” and “Love is my Profession.” Brigitte Bardot, the superstar of the Grande Nation, withdrew from film production in the 1970s to devote herself to animal rights causes.
Catherine Deneuve
A decade later, Bardot’s compatriot Catherine Deneuve broke onto the film scene. Deneuve differed much from both Loren and Lollo by playing roles as aloof and myterious women early in her career. Deneueve’s talent as an actress guaranteed her success throughout her life.
Romy Schneider
The two decades between 1960 and 1980 were also the golden era of German-French actress Romy Schneider. Born in Vienna, she made her breakthrough in the German-speaking world as “Sissi” before moving to France. In Paris, she became one of the most charismatic and impressive actresses of European film scene. But in her private life, she was anything but lucky. She died in 1982.
Penélope Cruz
One of the most famous Europen actresses in recent decades is Spanish actress Penélope Cruz. Cruz started her career in her home country before achieving fame in other European countries and, finally, Hollywood. Her performances received a lot of acclaim, especially in films by director Pedro Almodóvar, among them “Volver” (pictured).
Irene Papas
After 1945, actresses from smaller European nations were able to conquer the hearts of audiences across Europe. One of them was Irene Papas who is also renowned as a singer in her home country, Greece. She celebrated her biggest success in “Zorba the Greek” (1964) before also working in other European countries, and in Hollywood.
Tatjana Samoilova
While films from Italy, France, Germany and England dominated the film scene during the postwar era, it should not be forgotten that eastern Europe had much to offer too. One of the biggest female stars of Russian film was certainly Tatjana Samoilova who achieved world fame with the movie “The Cranes are Flying” (1957).
Krystyna Janda
Polish actress Krystyna Janda became known in the 1970s for her performances in films by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. She then performed in international co-productions with stars like Lino Ventura. In her home country, Krystyna Janda is also known as a singer and an an author.
In 1993, CC received a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival to be followed in 2002 by an “honorary bear” at the Berlinale. The spirited actress performed in more than 100 films.
In 2017, CC once again drew attention at an international film festival. A photo depicting her as a young actress embellished a placard in Cannes where she had often been invited as an honorary guest. On April 15, Claudia Cardinale will turn 80. Happy birthday!
This article was originally published April 15, 2018 and updated.
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