Donald Trump and Wife Melania Have 'Grown Apart' as 'Distant' Relationship Leaves President 'Unhinged,' Ex-Aide Claims

Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci claimed on “The Daily Beast Podcast” that Melania Trump's prolonged absence from Washington during Donald Trump's second presidential term has left the president increasingly "unhinged" and emboldened because he no longer has family members nearby to rein in his behavior.

Scaramucci, 62, described the couple's current relationship as "distant" and suggested they have "grown apart" and are effectively living separately, a point corroborated by Trump biographer Michael Wolff.

“When she was more friendly with him, she would tell him to tone it down, and he would actually listen to her,” he said, adding, “There’s very few people that Trump listens to.”

Scaramucci added that the two are no longer simpatico.

“I think it’s distant for several different reasons,” he said. “But I think they probably have grown apart.”

He highlighted that during Trump's first term, Melania, 56, would occasionally tell him to "tone it down," and Donald would actually listen.

With her physical absence in the current administration, those behavioral guardrails are gone.

Scaramucci argued that the president's immediate family completely withdrew from the second administration because they disliked the "blistering in Washington" and the constant public spotlight during the first term.

“The family unit that came into Trump 1.0 didn’t like it,” Scaramucci noted. “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.”

“I think that when he ran again, they all more or less said, ‘okay, that, you know, that one was on all of us; this one’s on you,’” he said.

Scaramucci said that initially the POTUS, 80, was apathetic about his family's deliberate evasiveness.

“He’s there without his family. And I was surprised by that, by the way. I would have said, this is going to be hard for him because he does everything with his family and they are not in the mix with him,” he added.

Data highlighted by The Daily Beast tracks Melania's highly limited public presence since the start of her husband’s second term. In 2025, she appeared publicly just 47 times following the January 20 inauguration, and in 2026, she has been seen on only 38 days through the first seven months of the year.

“It’s pretty clear that they’re not living together,” Scaramucci said.

“And I think it was probably pretty clear to the journalists in Trump 1.0 that they weren’t living together. But that doesn’t mean that she’s not going to show up and be friendly and she’s not going to do certain things,” he continued.

The president has historically dismissed Scaramucci's public commentary regarding his marriage and mental state.

Trump routinely characterizes Scaramucci as a bitter former employee whose claims lack credibility due to his public firing after serving only 11 days in the White House during the first term.