*NEW YORK: *A porn star is suing the president. A former Playboy model hasapologised to the first lady for sleeping with her husband. The eldest sonis divorcing and the scandal-plagued son-in-law’s security clearance hasbeen downgraded.

Seventeen months after Hillary Clinton told America that the one thing sherespected about Donald Trump was his “incredibly able and devoted”children, any gloss attached to the uber-groomed first family is wearingoff.

On election night in November 2016, the entire clan stood on stage, dressedto the nines and beaming after their father pulled off the unthinkable andwon the most powerful job on the planet.

Since then, they have been photographed only infrequently all together.

First Lady Melania Trump dealt with porn star Stormy Daniels’s prime-timetelevision interview by enjoying spring break with her 12-year-old son inFlorida, 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from her husband, who was holed upin the White House.

As the nation reeled from allegations that a 27-year-old porn star spankedthe future president’s bottom and was likened to his daughter Ivanka, thefirst lady’s spokesperson urged restraint.

“While I know the media is enjoying speculation & salacious gossip, I’dlike to remind people there’s a minor child who’s [sic] name should be keptout of news stories when at all possible,” tweeted Stephanie Grisham onSunday night.

Asked whether 47-year-old Melania had watched the interview, Grisham toldUS media: “She’s focused on being a mom and is quite enjoying spring breakat Mar-a-Lago while working on future projects.”

When Trump moved to Washington, his two eldest sons officially stayedbehind in New York to run the family business, while Ivanka and herhusband, the real estate scion and magazine publisher Jared Kushner, joinedhim as White House advisors.

Ivanka is photographed on a near-daily basis in a parade of expensiveclothes by paparazzi camped outside her Washington home.

She appears to operate largely as a free agent, hand-picking pet projectsand representing her father overseas at events such as the Winter Olympics,but she has drawn criticism for standing by her old man over allegations ofsexual harassment.

“I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father,” she toldNBC News as many women her age jumped on the #MeToo bandwagon.

While Kushner was once the golden boy, whom Trump said could bring peace tothe Middle East, he is reportedly under investigation for trying to getforeign investors to finance his company during the presidential transitionand he is implicated in the Russia collusion probe.

Last month, his security clearance was downgraded. While Kushner remains inthe White House – for now – commentators believe he is increasinglymarginalized.

There has also been much tabloid glee over Donald Jr and wife Vanessafiling for divorce and revelations that he romanced a pop star on his dad’sreality TV show, until a pregnant Vanessa found out and his fatherallegedly told him to “knock it off.”

“We have this snowball rolling downhill of scandals surrounding Trumphimself and his children one way and another,” says Katherine Jellison,professor of history at Ohio University.

For the president, rumored infidelity is nothing new. He won the 2016election despite boasting about groping women. Nor is he the first UScommander-in-chief accused of being unfaithful.

Last Thursday, former Playboy model Karen McDougal apologized to Melaniafor a 10-month affair she claims to have had with Trump in 2006-07.

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t want it done to me,” she told CNN.

If the first lady has adopted a generally frosty, stand-offish stance, andthe couple are believed to have separate bedrooms, few expect the Trumps tobust another presidential taboo and divorce in office.

On March 22, Melania posted a picture of herself with the president at asnowy White House, both of them smiling, on Twitter, which he laterretweeted.

Unveiling her cyber-bullying cause on March 20, Trump said of her husband’soften-criticized use of Twitter: “It will not stop me from doing what Iknow is right.”

“They are unlike any first family we have ever seen,” says Adele M. Stan,an award-winning columnist. If many liberal US women are rooting forMelania to file for divorce, few commentators think she will.

“Melania still has a fair amount of influence if she wants it,” said SamAbrams, political science professor at Sarah Lawrence College. “She mayrealize it’s better to suck it up for now.”