"There is nothing more cruel than a man or woman going through a divorce. It is pure hell, the likes of which I have never seen," Donald Trump wrote in his 2007 book Think big and kick ass.
With two divorces in the past, the former president has some experience, and speculation is already mounting that the former president and his wife of 19 years, Melania Trump, will head to Splitsville, especially if he wins in November.
Melania has been a reluctant First Lady - focused largely on their young son, Barron Trump. But this week, Barron, now 18, made his first appearance at a Trump rally. He was greeted with cheers as he sat front row at the campaign event at Trump's Doral resort in Miami - his mother nowhere to be seen.
Where is Melania?
Melania has been increasingly absent from Trump's public appearances since he left the White House. She was absent when his hush-money trial was pronounced in New York (which, to be fair, did involve bribing a woman to keep from telling her about having sex with Trump while Melania was pregnant), and Melania was missing during the fateful debate with Joe Biden in Atlanta on June 27.
While Trump travels around the country holding rallies, the furthest Melania has gone is to fundraisers held at her home - one at Mar-a-Lago and another at Trump Tower.
When asked about Melania's absence on Meet the press Last fall, Trump said, "At the right time, she will be there."
But Barron is there. The former president introduced his youngest son, and only child with Melania, to the crowd on Tuesday, saying, "That's the first time he's done it," as Barron pumped his fists and waved to the crowd.
"He's probably more popular than Don and Eric," Trump said. "Welcome to the scene, Barron, I don't know. He had such a nice, easy life. Now it's changed a little bit. Strange guy, right?"
Barron graduated from high school in May and has largely remained out of the spotlight until now.
Trump said he "got into every college he wanted and he made his choice. And he's a very good person."
The Page six of the New York Post Earlier this month, it was reported that Melania had reached a deal with the former president and 2024 candidate that stipulates she will not have to serve as full-time first lady if he wins a second term.
She thinks she can be a "do-it-all mom and a first lady at the same time," a source told the outlet. - although her son will probably already be in university by then.
Prenuptial agreements are 'a hard, painful and ugly instrument'
Trump's marriage to Melania is his longest. Ivana, the mother of his three eldest children, was his wife for about 15 years, while his marriage to Marla Maples ended within five years.
In 2006, the year after his marriage to Melania, Trump said New York magazine that his prenuptial agreement had made his third marriage stronger. Trump claimed at the time that his two previous wives had contested their agreements and lost.
"It's a hard, painful, ugly instrument," the then-future president said. "Believe me, there's nothing fun about it. But there comes a point where you have to say, 'Baby, I think you're great and I care about you, but if it doesn't work out, this is what you get.'"
He then added that the marriage contract can serve as a way to predict whether the marriage will last - if the couple can hold out, the marriage might have a chance.
Ivana Trump reportedly received $14 million, a New York apartment, a Connecticut mansion and annual access to Mar-a-Lago, in addition to $650,000 a year in alimony and child support in their divorce. City & Country magazine. Marla Maples reportedly received $2 million.
In 2018, in the middle of Trump's first term, Washington divorce attorney Sandy Ain told the Washingtonian that he suspected that "if they divorced, he would pay her a lot of money, and that it would be done in a proper, dignified manner."
"You don't say, 'You're fired,' to your wife. You say, 'Here's a really nice severance package, and it's going to be over $130,000,'" he added, referring to the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.
Fellow divorce attorney Cheryl New told the outlet that Trump "could not do this in a way that would be quiet. I don't think he's constitutionally capable of doing that. He's so confident that he would make this public."
She added: "I think he totally underestimates Melania. She's a chess player. He's a checkers player."
Ain said he thought Melania's rights in a divorce would be "very carefully laid out."
"Would he be wise to pay her more than that, for her silence and for the sake of her dignity? Very likely."
Attorney Jacqueline Newman said City & Country magazine in 2018 that "I can almost guarantee that he is not giving his New York apartment to Melania." "In situations where I've dealt with high-income, high-net-worth cases, the wealthy spouse will buy an apartment for the non-wealthy spouse and the kids to live in."
Any judge would likely seal all court documents to protect his privacy.
Making a deal for a second term
At the end of September last year, Page Six a source reported that "Melania and her team have been quietly negotiating a new 'postnup' agreement for the past year... this is at least the third time Melania has renegotiated the terms of her prenuptial agreement."
But the source added that the former first lady has no plans to end the marriage.
"Melania is most concerned about maintaining and growing a substantial trust fund for their son," the source said Page six, and added that the updated agreement is about money and property. The new agreement was prompted by Trump's re-election campaign and his current legal troubles.
Melania has seen Trump convicted of 34 felonies in connection with the hush-money payment to adult actor Stormy Daniels toward the end of the 2016 campaign. Daniels alleged the two had an affair in 2006, something Trump denies. It was only a year after Trump's marriage, and Melania was reportedly pregnant with Barron at the time.
"Trump is still very wealthy," the source said, but added that the former president "is increasingly facing more legal bills and judgments."
The new prenuptial agreement would provide Melania and Barron with "a more solid future" after a possible divorce, they said.
Another source said Page Six that "she wanted it to make her more money, and ... there's a certain amount that Barron would have to get at least."
What happens to the partner privilege?
Any divorce could also jeopardize Trump's criminal proceedings. Trump's sentencing on his 34 felony convictions in New York has been delayed until at least September, and he faces criminal trials in Washington, D.C., and Georgia for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and in Florida for his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
The marital privilege protects confidential communications within the framework of a valid marriage and eliminates the possibility that one spouse would have to testify against the other in a criminal case or other proceeding. Either spouse has the right to invoke the privilege to prevent the testimony from proceeding. But that privilege ends with divorce.
Although the communication privilege generally continues after a divorce, this does not apply to communications after the end of a marriage.
The right to refuse to testify also does not apply if the spouses sue each other in civil proceedings or if one initiates criminal proceedings against the other.
Who would be First Lady?
If a divorce were to occur before or during a second Trump term, he could appoint a non-romantic partner to the position. Previous presidents who were single or lost their wives have appointed nieces and daughters to the position.
Besides Trump, Ronald Reagan is the only president to ever be divorced. However, he was so far into his second and long marriage to Nancy Reagan that the previous divorce was never an issue when he ran for president.
There have also been two widowed presidents, John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson, who moved on to second wives during their time in the White House. One president, James Buchanan, never married at all.
But Trump could pay a political price for a possible divorce. President Bill Clinton's presidency might not have survived if his marriage had not outlasted his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
On Monday, at a fundraiser at Trump Tower for the Log Cabin Republicans, Melania gave "a beautiful speech about the importance of unity," a guest told the New York Post.
Time will tell whether her marriage falls under this category.