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    1. Culture

    This is the Donald and Melania Trump news that we weren't expecting

    Hmmmmm.

    Jenny Proudfoot's avatar
    By Jenny Proudfoot
    Published 3 April 2019 In News

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    Hmmmmm.

    Donald and Melania Trump are one of the most talked-about couples in the world, making viral news on the regular from not holding hands in public to Donald’s recent sexist joke about the First Lady.

    It has long been reported that Melania and Donald live relatively separate lives, with the First Lady continuing to live in New York for the first five months of Trump’s presidency, without him.

    In fact, there are even rumours this year of a fake Melania conspiracy, with members of the public theorising that Melania has been replaced with a ‘fake Melania’, so the real First Lady can live out her life in private.

    The speculation grew so loud in fact that Donald Trump got involved, insisting that he had not recruited a body double to stand by his side, in place of his wife.

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    melania and barron trump move

    REX

    But it wasn’t the President that was defending his relationship with Melania this week. Instead, it was writer Laurence Leamer, who wrote about the relationship in his new book, Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace.

    Mar-a-Lago is Trump’s Palm Beach resort - referred to by the President as the ‘Winter White House’, where the Trump family often entertain and host guests.

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    According to Leamer’s book however, the President and First Lady have one particular Mar-a-Lago tradition - and it’s not what anyone was expecting.

    The ritual in question? Dining together - for really, really long dinners on the candle-lit patio.

    Yes, really.

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    melania trump

    (Image credit: Rex)

    ‘They're there so long, other people are leaving and they're just…there,’ Leamer reportedly explains in his book. ‘They dine for hours.’

    He continued: ‘[Trump] likes a small table, a four-person table, so people can come over to say “hello” but there's not enough room to invite people to join.’

    This is something that was also reported a while ago by CNN, with a White House official informing the publication: ‘Those two will go and sit at dinner, and they are in the most in-depth conversations and will talk and sit there for hours, literally.’

    Well, no one was expecting that Donald and Melania news.

    Jenny Proudfoot
    Jenny Proudfoot
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    Contributing Features Editor

    Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. After working at Marie Claire UK for seven years - rising from intern to Features Editor - she is now a freelance contributor to the News and Features section.

    In 2021, Jenny was named as a winner on the PPA's '30 under 30' list, and was also listed as a rising star in journalism.

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