We all know there is the POTUS and the FLOTUS, but did you know historically there has also been an FDOTUS (First Dog of the United States). Was there one while Melania Trump was FLOTUS?
Melania Trump does not have any dogs. She and Donald Trump both appear to be uneasy around dogs. This was shown when neither would touch Conan the Dog while honoring him for tracking the ISIS leader. In fact, they don’t have any pets nor plans to ever own a pet.
You can read more below about why Melania doesn’t have a dog or any pets.
Melania Trump Is Visibly Uncomfortable Around Dogs
The number one reason why Melania Trump does not own a dog probably has to do with the fact that she doesn’t appear to really like them, actually, she doesn’t seem to like any living animal. Nor does her husband, Donald Trump.
There have been at least two clear-cut examples of how uncomfortable Melania Trump appears to be around animals. The first one was the incident we mentioned above that happened with Conan the Dog.
For reference, Conan the Dog was honored by the former U.S. President on November 25, 2019. Conan had been wounded while tracking down the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.
To honor him, Conan was awarded a medal and a plaque for his services. However, throughout the entire press conference, Melania stood as far away from the Belgian Malinois dog as possible.
Trump referred to Conan as ‘it’ throughout the entire press conference, which is a clear indicator that he is not a dog lover. Both he and Melania did not pet Conan and seemed to be visibly nervous around him.
In fact, the only person to actually pet Conan throughout the entire conference was former Vice President Mike Pence. Pence is a pet owner so this would make sense.
The other incident where Melania showed that she is visibly uncomfortable around animals was the annual turkey pardoning that the White House hosts. Melania once again avoided getting close to the two ‘pardoned’ turkeys named Bread and Butter.
However, this time her husband chose to walk up and pet the two turkeys unlike Conan the Dog. Many found this interesting since Donald Trump is a self-proclaimed germaphobe.
You can watch Melania and Donald Trump’s reactions to Conan the Dog in the below video from Bloomberg.
Melania’s Opportunity to Own A Dog
Even though she doesn’t have a pet dog, Melania Trump has had opportunities to own one in the past. However, she has passed on those probably because she doesn’t like them.
After the press conference with Conan the Dog, a reporter asked Melania and Donald Trump if they would think about adopting the canine hero for their son Baron. Her response was a simple ‘no.’
Donald Trump was actually the first President of the United States in 118 years to not have a pet while in office. He was also one of only three Presidents ever to not have a pet while in office.
He has said that he has his reasons for not owning a dog. At an El Paso rally, he said that he doesn’t have time for a dog and thought he would look phony owning one and walking it around the White House Lawn.
Despite his reasoning for not owning a dog, his son Baron seems like he would really like to have a furry friend. After Trump won the 2016 election, a supporter from Florida offered to gift the family a nine-week-old Goldendoodle puppy named Patton.
The Florida socialite, Lois Pope, who offered the dog to the family said that a big smile came over Baron’s face when she showed him a picture of the puppy. She said he appeared to really want the dog as a companion.
Unfortunately, the decision wasn’t up to him, it was up to his parents who said no.
Other Trump’s Who Have Dogs
While Melania and Donald Trump do not own a dog, there have been some other Trump’s who do. Donald Trump’s ex-wife Ivana had a poodle named Chappy while she was with him.
In her memoir Raising Trump, Ivana recalled that Donald was not a fan of Chappy and that he would act in a very hostile manner towards the dog. Chappy would then apparently bark at him territorially.
Donald’s daughter and Maelania’s step-daughter, Ivanka, is also a dog owner. She has a dog named Winter who is a Pomeranian crossed with a Siberian Husky.
So there you have it: some Trump’s do in fact like dogs.