Being the First Couple of America means both respect and hate. Policies, rules, press meets, cameras, never ending social media attention go hand in hand. And to any common person, the life would look glorious. But there’s a catch. Behind the bright smiles, a lot might be happening.
For decades, the place has seen many couple coming and going. No one has been free of rumors and of the alleged discussions around separate sleeping arrangements. Of course, Donald Trump and Melania get all the heat in this regard but they’re not the only ones.
Let’s have a quick look at some of the other First Couple names in this list who chose a different bed from their partner’s.
Hillary and Bill Clinton
The Monica Lewinsky affair didn’t did a lot more than just giving a massive blow to Bill Clinton‘ Presidency. The scandal erupted in 1998 and so did the media frenzy. Reportedly, Bill moved to a sofa in a private study near the bedroom he once shared with Hillary. According to the 2015 book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, they stuck to this arrangement for months.
The late President Jerry John Rawlings and Nana Konadu at the White House with US President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary — 24th February 1999 🇬🇭🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/28hdWedTny
— Frederick (@UTDFrederick) August 1, 2025
The book also claimed that Hillary knew about her husband’s infidelity. She didn’t divorce him yes, but the marriage had a heavy sadness. Speaking about the situation, one florist said, “It was like a morgue when you’d go up to the second floor. Mrs. Clinton was nowhere to be found.”
Interestingly, the idea of the Clintons keeping separate bedrooms was whispered about long before the scandal hit the headlines. As early as 1993, the Chicago Tribune ran a piece. It questioned whether it was healthy for couples to sleep apart. It further added that the Clintons “reportedly maintain separate bedrooms in the White House.” The claim was called “gossipy conjecture.”
Jackie and John F. Kennedy
The marriage of Jackie and John F. Kennedy has long been remembered as complicated. It was the same both in the press and in private. Their relationship troubles reportedly carried into the White House. They, too, slept in separate bedrooms.
In many ways, this looked like the aristocratic customs of the 1960s. JFK was suffering from back pain. So, his preference was a harder mattress. On the other hand, Jackie preferred something softer. Sometimes their twin beds would be pushed together, but most of the time the two retreated to their own spaces. Jackie’s room became her sanctuary. It was very well decorated to her taste.
Privacy may also have had a purpose here. JFK’s alleged affairs were an open secret. Though the couple kept up a polished public image, they were said to live separate lives behind closed doors. In 1964 interviews later published in Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, Jackie herself talked about their mismatched routines: “He’d get up a quarter of eight … and go into his bedroom and have breakfast there … sometimes I’d like to just, sort of, stay in bed until about nine.”
Donald and Melania Trump
Be it their stiff hand-holding on camera moments or repeated speculation that they live apart, Donald and Melania Trump have faced questions about the state of their marriage uncountable times. One long-running rumor is that they sleep in separate bedrooms.
“I think it’s pretty unusual now to have a separate room from your husband. I think that speaks volumes [about the Trumps],” First Lady historian Kate Andersen Brower once told People as he noted how the practice used to be a White House tradition.
President Trump with First Lady Melania in The Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/ZfXfMTxII1
— The TRUMP PAGE (@MichaelDeLauzon) June 9, 2023
Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who clashed with the POTUS in court, even claimed that Trump once told her he and Melania didn’t sleep together. Trump was furious and defended himself during her testimony, according to the Associated Press. Other reports have gone further, that claimed Donald lived on the second floor of the White House and Melania stayed on the third.
Still, insiders say the now First Couple make their unusual arrangement work. A source close to Melania told the Daily Mail that, despite the separate rooms, their relationship is held together by nightly dinners and what the source described as a strong partnership.
And we can conclude, irrespective of the reason, the polished smiles in front of the camera might often tell a very different story when the entire world is not watching.
