Prior to his marriage to Melania Trump, Donald Trump was married two other times.
He married his first wife, Ivana, in 1977. He would then go on to marry his second wife, Marla Maples, in 1993, after the pair were rumoured to have engaged in an affair during his first marriage.
In 1998, Donald met his current wife, Melania, and tied the knot in 2005. Throughout his three marriages, the 76-year-old is said to have engaged in a number of rumoured affairs and faced numerous sexual misconduct accusations.
Earlier this month, Melania Trump was notably absent when her husband surrendered to authorities in Manhattan after being indicted on 34 felony counts.
The absence of the former first lady sparked speculation about the state of the couple’s marriage, with some questioning whether Melania chose not to accompany her husband to New York City due to the nature of the charges. The one-time president is facing charges for falsification of business records in connection to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Although it is not clear whether Melania remained in Mar-a-Lago during her husband’s arrest, a source told People that she “still feels happy” at the Florida resort, where she is “leading her own life,” but that she “remains angry and doesn’t want to hear” about the alleged hush money.
This is a timeline of Donald’s marriages and the sexual misconduct allegations he’s faced.
Donald and Ivana’s relationship
Donald and his first wife married in 1977. They share three children, sons Donald Jr and Eric, and daughter Ivanka.
The entrepreneur was said to be unfaithful during the marriage, while multiple women accused Donald of sexual assault during his relationship with Ivana.
In 2016, Jessica Leeds told The New York Times that Donald “grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt” during a flight in the early 1980s.
The former president has also refused to deny rumours of infidelity.
“I don’t have to answer that. I never speak about my wife - which is one of the advantages of not being a politician. My marriage is and should be a personal thing,” he told Playboy in 1990 when asked by the magazine whether he and Ivana were monogamous, before adding: “I think any man enjoys flirtations, and if he said he didn’t, he’d be lying or he’d be a politician trying to get the extra four votes.”
Donald is also said to have begun his relationship with Marla Maples in 1990, during his first marriage, which ultimately culminated in his first divorce. The divorce was finalised in 1992.
Trump and Maples marry in 1993
The businessman married his second wife shortly after the divorce from Ivana was finalised, and not long after the birth of his and Maples’ daughter Tiffany.
Donald’s second marriage lasted just a few years, with the pair divorcing in 1997. During their brief marriage, Donald was also reported to engage in infidelity.
In 2019, E Jean Carroll accused Donald of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s, with the columnist suing the one-time president for defamation and battery. The trial started on 25 April.
Trump and Melania meet in the fall of 1998
Melania Knauss, who was born in Slovenia, moved to New York City to pursue a modelling career. There, she was introduced to her future husband during a Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Club.
Melania, who was 28 at the time, says Donald, who was 52 at the time and recently separated from Marla, asked for her number.
“He wanted my number, but he was with a date, so of course I didn’t give it to him,” Melania told Harper’s Bazaar of her first encounter with the real estate mogul and then-father of four.
Melania said she instead asked Donald to give her his number and promised to call him.
“I said: ‘I am not giving you my number; you give me yours, and I will call you.’ I wanted to see what kind of number he would give me - if it was a business number, what is this? I’m not doing business with you,” she recalled.
She ultimately called him a few days later and said she was “struck by his energy” and his “amazing sense of vitality”.
Melania and Donald have their first date shortly after meeting
In the interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Melania said that her and Donald’s first date involved dinner and a visit to former New York City hotspot Mooma.
“I remember that night like it was two months ago,” she said.
Donald proposes to Melania at the Met Gala in 2004
After a rocky few years, during which Donald launched a failed presidential campaign and the pair briefly broke up, the couple got engaged at the Met Gala in 2004. The real estate mogul proposed with a 15-carat diamond engagement ring.
“It was a great surprise. We are very happy together,” Melania, then-33, told the New York Post at the time.
Donald gushed about his relationship with Melania during an appearance on Live! with Regis and Kelly shortly after the engagement.
“Well, we’ve had a great relationship, we’ve been together for five years and it was really time,” he said. “And you know, Melania is a great woman, a great person, and I’m really happy about it.”
Couple marries in Florida on 22 January 2005 and welcome their son a year later
Melania and Donald exchanged vows during a church ceremony before celebrating their wedding at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
According to reports, the extravagant wedding was attended by 350 guests and cost between $1m to $2.5m.
On 20 March 2006, Melania, who announced her pregnancy with a bikini photo shoot in Vogue, gave birth to the couple’s first and only child together, son Barron William.
The Apprentice star reportedly meets with Daniels
Stormy Daniels shared details about her alleged meeting with the former president during an interview with 60 Minutes in 2018 and claimed she met Donald at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006.
Daniels claimed Donald, then-60, invited her to dinner, and that they had sex in his hotel room.
The adult film star also alleged Donald invited her to various parties and to his office in Trump Tower in New York.
Donald announces second presidential bid
In 2015, the reality TV star announced he would be campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
At the time, Melania told GQ that she “chose not to go into politics and policy,” but that she reportedly “encouraged” her husband to run for president.
Melania says she accepts her husband’s apology over resurfaced comments about women
In October 2016, just before the election, The Washington Post published a tape of Donald telling Access Hollywood host Billy Bush he is able to “grab” women “by the p***y”.
“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” he claimed in the 2005 tape.
Melania defended her husband over the resurfaced derogatory comments.
“This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world,” she said.
In 2016, People journalist Natasha Stoynoff also alleged she was sexually assaulted by the mogul when she went to interview him and Melania at Mar-a-Lago.
Donald wins 2016 presidential election
Donald was joined by his family at a New York rally on 8 November, where he and Melania learned together that he had won the presidency.
On 20 January 2017, Melania officially became first lady while her husband moved into the White House. She remained in New York, where their son was still attending school.
Karen McDougal alleges affair with Donald before birth of Barron
In February 2018, the Playboy model told The New Yorker she engaged in an affair with the former president in the months leading up to his son’s birth.
At the time, a spokesperson for the White House denied the allegations, telling the outlet: “The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal.”
Daniels speaks out about alleged affair
In 2018, Daniels gave a televised interview about her alleged affair with the then-president.
At the time, a White House spokesperson denied the claims, stating: “The president strongly, clearly and has consistently denied these underlying claims, and the only person who’s been inconsistent is the one making the claims.”
Daniels’ interview came after the Wall Street Journal reported that Donald’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen facilitated a $130,000 payment to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Melania claims she and her husband are ‘fine’
In October 2018, Melania was asked by an ABC reporter if she loves her husband, to which she replied: “Yes. We are fine. Yes.”
Couple moves out of White House
In January 2021, after the former president lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, the couple moved from Washington, DC, to Mar-a-Lago.
Melania predicts what her husband’s return to the White House would look like
In November 2022, the former first lady hailed her husband’s 2024 presidential bid, telling Breitbart News she “supports” his decision to run again.
“His achievements during his administration had a great effect on all of us, and he can lead us toward success and prosperity again,” she told the publication.
Donald is seen without Melania during his New York arraignment
Although the 76-year-old was not joined by his wife in New York, he was reportedly seen having dinner with her at Mar-a-Lago last Thursday, just after news of the indictment broke, according to the New York Post.
Carroll trial begins
Over the years, at least 26 women have accused the former president of sexual assault.
Carroll is suing Donald for rape and for defaming her character by denying the accusations.
The civil trial started in US District Court in Manhattan on 25 April.
The former president has denied all the allegations against him.
