No First Lady In The White House? Melania Trump Reportedly Is Staying In New York; Wants Son To Stay At Current Prep School

UPDATED: 6:05 p.m. EST — President-elect Donald Trump Sunday confirmed his wife and youngest son will stay in New York after the inauguration though he will settle into the White House. Trump told McClatchy newspapers his wife and son Barron will remain in New York at least through the end of the school year.

Original story

Future first lady Melania Trump has no plans to move into the White House come January, the New York Post reported Sunday.

The former model, 46, and son Barron, 10, plan to continue living in the Trump Tower penthouse so the fourth-grader can stay at the private school he attends, at least through the end of the school year, the Post reported.

“Melania is extremely close to Barron, and they have become closer during the campaign,” a source close to Trump’s transition team told the Post. “The campaign has been difficult for Barron, and she is really hoping to keep disruption to a minimum.”

The story left open the possibility Trump and Barron would move to Washington during the summer.

Another source quoted by the Post said Trump would travel to the White House as needed and is committed to “doing everything that’s needed as first lady.”

The president’s wife has not been the only one to perform the duties of first lady during an administration. Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, served as White House hostess, as did Andrew Jackson’s niece, Emily Donelson. Angelica Van Buren, the daughter of Martin Van Buren, served as White House hostess in the last two years of her father’s administration.

John Tyler’s wife suffered a stroke, so their daughter Letty Tyler Semple and daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler took over White House hostess duties until Tyler remarried.

Zachary Taylor’s wife refused to serve as first lady, so their daughter Betty Taylor Bliss took over the role. James Buchanan was a bachelor, so a niece filled the role of first lady. Andrew Johnson’s wife suffered from tuberculosis, so their daughter Martha Patterson acted as hostess and also milked cows at the White House every morning.

Chester Arthur’s sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, served as White House hostess and then joined the anti-suffrage movement.

Trump is only the second foreign-born first lady in the nation’s history. Louisa Catherine Adams was married to John Quincy Adams. She was born in London and didn’t come to the United States until four years after she and Adams married.