- While many politicians have used Valentine’s Day as a chance to celebrate their partners, Melania and Donald Trump have so far been silent.
- Stormy Daniels, a porn star who has said she had an affair with Donald Trump, announced on Wednesday that she was prepared to speak about the relationship.
- Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said the affair began in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to her son, Barron Trump.
While many politicians are taking Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to celebrate their spouses, one couple has been notably silent: Melania and Donald Trump.
The lack of a lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day message from either the president or the first lady is especially interesting amid reports on Wednesday that the porn star Stormy Daniels, who has said she had an affair with President Donald Trump, is now open to talking about the relationship. She said a nondisclosure agreement had prevented her from doing so.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said the affair began in 2006, shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to her son, Barron Trump.
The alleged affair has been making headlines since The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Michael Cohen, one of Trump's top lawyers, organized the transfer of $130,000 into Daniels' account in October 2016.
Afterward, the first lady mostly disappeared from public engagements with her husband. She did not join him on a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as planned, nor did she post anything to celebrate their anniversary on January 22, as she has in years past.
In recent weeks, Melania Trump reentered the public eye, though she has appeared in pictures without her husband.
On the eve of Valentine's Day, however, the reported affair once again began stealing headlines when Cohen said in a statement that he paid Daniels with personal funds and that neither the Trump Organization nor Trump's presidential campaign was involved in the payment.
Also on Tuesday, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" released a faux valentine from Donald Trump to the first lady. In the clip of spliced audio clips, the president gets distracted from thoughts of his wife as he sings his own praises.
Instead of posting pictures of her husband, Melania Trump is spending Valentine's Day with kids at the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.