Melania Trump is set to return to the White House alongside her husband Donald, but conspiracy theories could continue to haunt her during her second term as First Lady
Melania Trump has been at the centre of some frenzied conspiracy theories during her husband Donald’s campaign for a second term in office.
The Slovenian-American former fashion model, 54, was widely talked about when she became the 45th First Lady, and now all eyes are on her again as she returns to the White House. For years, Melania has been by Trump’s side at rallies, high-profile state visits and dinners, but sightings of her have sparked several shock rumours.
In the run-up to the US Election 2024, the mother-of-one was notably absent from her husband’s campaign events. But when she did appear on occasion, she was often spotted wearing large sunglasses, leaving some to fathom outlandish claims that she was replaced by a body double or even a robot. Here, the Mirror takes a look at them…
‘Body double’ at Trump events
The body double theory first emerged after Melania appeared alongside her husband on the South Lawn of the White House while he was still president. She was wearing large sunglasses, which covered up a lot of her face, and didn’t talk as Donald spoke to reporters.
Social media denizens quickly leapt to the conclusion that the woman next to Trump wasn’t actually Melania, instead dubbing her “Fake Melania”. One user wrote: “This is not Melania. To think they would go this far and try and make us think it’s her on TV is mind blowing. Makes me wonder what else is a lie.”
The user on X, formerly Twitter, then added that then-president Trump referred to her as “my wife Melania, she’s right here” as if he as “try[ing] to convince the media it was her”. But Donald has accused “deranged” media outlets of digitally editing photos of Melania to fan the flames of conspiracy theories.
Melania’s then-communications director Stephanie Grisham also shot down the theory. She told CNN at the time: “Once again, we find ourselves consumed with a ridiculous non-story when we could be talking about the work the first lady is doing on behalf of children.”
However, speculation reared its head again as Melania stepped out to vote alongside her husband in the US Election 2024. Melania’s odd choice of outfit for such a big day sparked a debate online, with many accusing her of “looking like she is attending a funeral for her husband’s political career”.
Not only that, many were convinced yet again that it was not the real Melania. “Melania’s been wearing sunglasses inside all day today,” one Twitter (X) user wrote as they shared a video of Melania and Trump entering the polling station. “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,” another said.
Yet another reply speculating if Melania is the real deal penned: “That’s the double, not Melania, easy to see when she smiles and that’s what the glasses are for.” But the theories were quickly shut down thanks to Melania whipping her huge shades off eventually and letting photographers grab a picture of her full face.
‘Russian spy’ theory
There’s another outlandish theory that Melania is really a Russian spy. The apparent evidence, that theorists were leaping at, was that she had a chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner for the 2017 G-20 Summit. Melania was born in Slovenia which was then part of communist Yugoslavia.
While she doesn’t speak Russian she does speak English, French, German, Italian, and Serbian, in addition to her native Slovenian. She was born and raised in Slovenia before she moved to New York in 1996 when she was 26.
The theories are fanned by her husband’s actions which appear sympathetic to Russian interests. However, there is no proof that Melania and Putin have regular interactions or that she has ever performed any type of spy work.
‘Replaced by robot’
Following the wild speculation about a possible body double, other social media users went as far as suggesting she was replaced by a robot. One X user wrote: “Melania Trump was replaced by a very lifelike robot 14 years ago the only giveaway from this remarkable machine is the cold, dead eyes.”
And another suggested the First Lady had “died on election night 2016 and was replaced by a Russian robot.” Needless to say, there’s also no concrete proof Melania has been replaced by a robot either.