Within a few weeks of their getting together, Melania Knavs broke things off with Donald Trump, reportedly because she saw Kara Young, a former girlfriend of Trump’s, leaving Trump Tower. Their split lasted just a week, but Young triggered another breakup between the two in 2000. Photographer Matthew Atanian, a former roommate of Melania’s, remembered for GQ that “she was telling me that she wouldn’t have it, he was back to his old ways,” and that Melania and Trump remained apart for about six months.
In “Free, Melania: An Unauthorized Biography,” Kate Bennett wrote that Trump promised after the first breakup to be faithful to Melania, a promise she accepted. But Trump’s fidelity has been an ongoing source of speculation about their relationship. After all, this is a man who was all over the tabloids in the 1990s due to the breakdown of his first marriage and his affair with Marla Maples. More than one woman has claimed to have had an affair with Trump while he was with Melania, others have claimed he forced himself on them within that time, and a 2018 Quinnipiac poll (via The Hill) found that most voters took it for granted that he was a cheater.
As First Lady, Melania maintained that there was no truth behind the reports about her husband’s dalliances. But the claims of Stormy Daniels reportedly took her by surprise. And she’s also maintained throughout their relationship that she hasn’t tried to change her husband.
