Yahoo Lifestyle 
Expert: ‘Things are in decline’ for Melania and Donald
For those who might have missed it, Monday Jan 22 was Melania and Donald Trump’s 13th wedding anniversary.
But the first couple didn’t mention the occasion on social media, which one could maybe blame on the distraction of the government shutdown.
However, when Melania’s communications director told CNN that she had also canceled her plans to join the president on his trip to Switzerland, later this week, others attributed their silence to marital strife.
Does a lack of special anniversary plans necessarily mean a marriage is on the rocks?
Coming on the heels of headlines about Donald Trump’s alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, that’s not a huge leap of logic to make.
But for the sake of all the other married couples out there, Yahoo Lifestyle spoke to a couples’ therapist to find out.
“If your relationship is strong, then it would be more able to handle if you can’t spend the actual anniversary together,” Susan Pease Gadoua, a licensed therapist and co-author of The New I Do tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
“If the relationship is on shaky ground, then it could be really bad that they’re not spending that time together. It could be a real indication that things are in decline.”
Anniversaries and other holidays are important because they’re times that remind people to reflect on how they’re doing.
They’re also occasions when other people might decide to check in on the relationship too, which is certainly true in the case of the Trumps.
Many noticed on Saturday that the first lady marked her first year in the White House by posting a photo of herself with a military escort during the inauguration, and she didn’t mention her husband at all.
“Certainly the public is watching, and I think what we’ve seen so far is that this is not the most loving relationship on the planet,” Susan says.
“They spend very little time together. If you compare them to the Obamas, it certainly doesn’t look like things are going well for them as a couple.”
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