Melania Trump to move into the White House

The US first couple has hardly gotten off to a conventional start. Now, after a period spent apart, it’s in for a very public test: life together in the Petri dish that is Washington. President Donald Trump, for instance, all but ignored First Lady Melania, left clambering out of a limo in a sumptuous, light blue designer dress and bearing a goodwill gift, as he bounded up the White House steps in January to greet President Barack Obama and wife Michelle on Inauguration Day. More recently the Slovenian former model appeared to swat away an outreached presidential hand as the couple walked along a red carpet upon arriving in Israel last month. The moment, captured on video during Trump’s first and very high profile overseas visit as president, quickly went viral. After staying in New York in Trump Tower since the election so their young son Barron could finish the school year, 47-year-old Melania Trump and the boy are reportedly moving to Washington next week to take their place in the White House. The Washington-news web site Politico, quoting people familiar with the family’s plans, reports that Melania and 11-year-old Barron will move in on June 14, the day Trump turns 71. CNN also said the move will be next week, but did not specify a date. The reported move comes amid the seemingly endless barrage of self-inflicted wounds, damaging  Russia-related news leaks, vicious White House infighting and other turmoil that have hobbled and distracted the Trump presidency since it set up shop in the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20.