It is no secret that Melania Trump has a significant age gap with her husband Donald Trump . However, people on the internet were bewildered that Trump, who is 78 years old, is only 2 years younger than his father-in-law Victor Knavs who is currently 80. Reddit users weighed in on Melania and Trump’s marriage, with one netizen joking, “Still she won’t call him Daddy.”
. @MELANIATRUMP ‘s dad #ViktorKnavs on the left. Wowza. Now it all makes perfect sense… #Trump #Melania #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/IOj8tQE2Gh
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) July 19, 2016
Another Reddit user, u/Pure-Negotiation-900 , asked a relevant question, “I wonder how old Viktor’s wife is…” u/Time-Bite-6839 quipped, “So that’s why she married him!” u/[deleted] posted a GIF that read, “That’s some daddy issue right there.” u/CynicallyCyn joked, “DaDeee issues.” u/Columnest said its a norm among the rich people, “Rich men dating and marrying younger women since there was money.” u/HandleAccomplished11 compared Trump and his father-in-law’s body, “Melania’s dad looks to be in better shape than his “younger” SIL.” While speaking of Presidential in-laws, others pointed out the former US presidents whose in-laws had weird relations. For instance, when u/Original-Ad-4642 mentioned Benjamin Harrison’s in-laws, u/Trumps_Cellmate responded, “She [Harrison’s second wife] was nearly 25 years younger than Harrison, and was the niece of his first wife. I don’t like this at all.”
Melania Knavs, who officially became a Trump in 2005, met the then-real estate magnate in 1998 at a New York City club. By that time, the former president had already been married twice- first with Ivana Trump with whom he had three children, Don Jr. , Ivanka , and Eric Trump, followed by his short-lived marriage to actress/model Marla Maples with whom he shares a daughter called Tiffany Trump.
Interestingly, Trump had a 17-year age gap with his second wife Maples. However, Melania surpasses his previous marriage and relationship with a whopping 24 years between them. Though if we look at them closely, it doesn’t show much of a difference but when we compare Melania’s age to Trump’s oldest three children, the Slovenian-American is still far more youthful.
For instance, Melania is much closer in age to Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka. Ivanka was born on October 30, 1981, 11 years after her stepmother Melania was born. The relatively lesser age difference makes it weirder to wrap our heads around, and how the family navigates the challenges while being in the public eye routinely scrutinized by the media.
Happy Birthday to our First Lady (and my incredible step-mom!) Melania Trump 🎉 A wonderful example of kindness and grace for us all! @FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/k8BpS5cqma
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 27, 2017
So how are Trump and Melania navigating their relationship dynamics? Well, we may not have an answer to that. Still, Dr.2 Sanam Hafeez, a NYC-based neuropsychologist and director of ‘Comprehend the Mind,’ told NickiSwift how Trump’s advancing age could affect his marriage to Melania.
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“Melania, being younger, might have different priorities and interests compared to Donald,” said Dr. Hafeez, adding that Trump might be more inclined towards issues like “retirement after a final potential term as president or legacy.” Furthermore, she highlighted that this could lead to “misunderstandings and conflicts in decision-making” regarding “career,” finances,” or “lifestyle.” In addition, “Public scrutiny, media attention, and social expectations” could permanently hamper their marriage.