In an unprecedented move Friday, First Lady Melania Trump went against tradition and traveled to Marine One without her husband.

While it is protocol for the first couple to walk across the White House South Lawn together, before the Trumps headed to Parkland, Florida to meet with victims of the mass shooting there, CNN reported that Melania drove to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland separately ahead of her husband

The move comes after new allegations that Trump had an affair with former Playboy Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal.

The first lady did accompany her husband when he visited the mass shooting victims, and her communications director told PEOPLE in a statement, quote, “With her schedule today it was easier to meet at the plane,”

The New Yorker released a report early Friday detailing the alleged affair, with McDougal claiming she had a nine-month sexual relationship with the President in 2006 after they met during a taping of The Apprentice at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

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37 PHOTOS 37 of the most iconic photos of Melania Trump's first year as first lady See Gallery 37 of the most iconic photos of Melania Trump's first year as first lady Donald and Melania Trump attend his inauguration ceremonies to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. It was also during this portion of the event that a video of Melania Trump looking "petrified" at the ceremony made rounds on social media and prompted the infamous hashtag #FreeMelania. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Former U.S. President Barack Obama smiles at his wife Michelle Obama as they depart following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, with first lady Melania Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst US President Donald Trump and the first lady Melania Trump gesture after dancing at the Liberty Ball at the Washington DC Convention Center following Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th President of the United States, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2017. / AFP / MOLLY RILEY (Photo credit should read MOLLY RILEY/AFP/Getty Images) PALM BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 03: U.S. President Donald Trump walks with his wife Melania Trump on the tarmac after he arrived on Air Force One at the Palm Beach International Airport for a visit to his Mar-a-Lago Resort for the weekend on February 3, 2017 in Palm Beach, Florida. In this photo, the woman on the right, who looks strikingly similar to Melania Trump, later fueled the wild conspiracy theory that the first lady has a body double. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) US First Lady Melania Trump (R) and Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, tour Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, on February 11, 2017. / AFP / Gaston De Cardenas / ALTERNATIVE CROP (Photo credit should read GASTON DE CARDENAS/AFP/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump holds up H.R. 321 as his daughter Ivanka Trump (C) and U.S. first lady Melania Trump (2nd R) watch after it was signed in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, DC, U.S. February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts US First Lady Melania Trump arrives before US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of the US Congress on February 28, 2017, in Washington, DC. Trump's choice to go with the black Michael Kors ensemble sparked backlash from many online who deemed her choice of sequins was "inappropriate." (Getty/ AFP / MANDEL NGAN) U.S. first lady Melania Trump welcomes guests for an International Women's Day luncheon in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: U.S. first lady Melania Trump presents the 2017 Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award to Sandya Eknelgoda of Sri Lanka March 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. The award honors women who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in acting to improve the lives of others. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, U.S., after Easter weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, April 16, 2017. The photo of the two disembarking Air Force One reignited debate over Trump's alleged disregard for the first lady after she was seen descending far behind him. (REUTERS/Yuri Gripas) WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 2017: In this handout image provided by the White House, First Lady Melania Trump poses for her official portrait in her residence at the White House April 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by The White House via Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. first lady Melania Trump and the their son Barron stand during the National Anthem at the 139th annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 17, 2017. Video later emerged from the moment seen photographed in which Melania Trump is shown subtly nudging her husband, appearing, to some, to remind him of the tradition. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts) WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: U.S. first lady Melania Trump hugs 7-year-old Noah Haas after he presented her with a gift at the Children's National Health System April 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke a the opening of the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden for patients and famlies, an outdoor location for to safely spend time outdoors while receiving treatment at the hospital. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, U.S. President Donald Trump, US First Lady Melania Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L-R) stand still during the national anthems ceremony upon US President Trump's arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel May 22, 2017. Footage also emerged of the first couple on the tarmac that appeared to show the first lady slapping away at President Trump's hand as he seemed to reach for hers -- and to say it went viral is an understatement. (Photo by Corinna Kern/NurPhoto via Getty Images) US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump step off Air Force One upon arrival at Rome's Fiumicino Airport on May 23, 2017. Donald Trump arrived in Rome for a high-profile meeting with Pope Francis in what was his first official trip to Europe since becoming US President. Footage immediately went viral from this moment as well. It appeared to show Trump reaching for his wife's hand as they departed the plane when the first lady seemed to pull her hand away as she abruptly fixes her hair, after which Trump rests his hand on her rear end instead. (Getty/ AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTE) Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump (L) and First Lady Melania Trump during a private audience at the Vatican, May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandra Tarantino/pool First Lady Melania Trump holds a baby as U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) greets members of the congress and their families as they attend a congressional picnic event at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (Front row LtoR) First Lady of Turkey Emine Gulbaran Erdogan, First Lady of the US Melania Trump, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, (back row, LtoR) First Gentleman of Luxembourg Gauthier Destenay, partner of Slovenia's Prime Minister Mojca Stropnik and First Lady of Iceland Thora Margret Baldvinsdottir pose for a family photo before a diner of the First Ladies and Queen at the Royal castle in Laken/Laeken, on May 25, 2017, in Brussels. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / YORICK JANSENS / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read YORICK JANSENS/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 4: U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump observe the playing of the national anthem from the Truman Balcony on July 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. The president was hosting a picnic for military families for the July 4 holiday. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for travel to Texas to visit the areas devastated by Tropical Storm Harvey, the first major natural disaster of his White House tenure, from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2017. Photos from the trip went viral after the first lady was slammed on social media for wearing stiletto heels before boarding flights to hurricane-ravaged areas. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria) U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Austin international airport in Austin, Texas, U.S., August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria US First Lady Melania Trump addresses other spouses of world leaders at a United Nations luncheon on September 20, 2017, in the United States Mission in New York. The First Lady addressed the issue of vulnerable children around the world. The first lady was also slammed for this particular outfit, which sold for $2,950 and some critics likened to a "bright pink hot air balloon." (Getty/ AFP PHOTO / DON EMMERT) WASHINGTON, DC - In the White House Kitchen Garden, First Lady Melania Trump plants and harvests vegetables with children from the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington on the White House grounds in Washington DC Friday September 22, 2017. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images) TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 23: Prince Harry poses with U.S. first lady Melania Trump for the first time as she leads the USA team delegation ahead of the Invictus Games 2017 on September 23, 2017 in Toronto, Canada (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation ) U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (L) speaks next to Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway during a discussion with experts and people affected by the opioid crisis at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump look on before departing from Luis Muï¿½z Air National Guard Base in Carolina, Puerto Rico on October 3, 2017. Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria thrashed through the US territory, much of the islands remains short of food and without access to power or drinking water. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcome Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mrs. Grï¿½oire Trudeau (R) at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 11 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 30: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and first lady Melania Trump host Halloween at the White House on the South Lawn October 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. The first couple gave cookies away to costumed trick-or-treaters one day before the Halloween holiday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump look down into the water at the World War II wreckage of the USS Arizona, sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 06 : First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife Akie Abe (R) hold calligraphies during a calligraphy class of 4th graders at the Kyobashi Tsukiji Elementary School in Tokyo on November 6, 2017. Melania and Akie wrote in Chinese characters that together mean 'Peace'. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura / Pool/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) US First Lady Melania Trump (2nd L) offers stuffed toy eagles, from the US, to children at the Beijing Zoo in Beijing on November 10, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images) First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron Trump welcome the official White House Christmas Tree, a Wisconsin-grown tree provided by the Chapman family of Silent Night Evergreens, to the White House in Washington DC, U.S. November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria President Donald Trump waves, with Carl Wittenburg (L), President of the Protein Alliance, First lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump by his side, after the pardoning of Drumstick at the National Thanksgiving Turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on on November 21, 2017. (Photo by Cheriss May) (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images) U.S. First Lady Melania Trump high-fives a schoolchild making Christmas crafts, as she tours the holiday decorations with reporters at the White House in Washington, U.S. November 27, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 30: President Donald Trump and the first lady Melania Trump attend the 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting held by the National Park Service at the White House Ellipse in Washington, D.C., November 30, 2017. The Beach Boys, Wynonna, The Texas Tenors, Craig Campbell were among the artists who provided the entertainment. (Photo by Astrid Riecken/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 07: First lady Melania Trump sits between Damian Contreras (L) and a person dressed as Santa Claus as she reads the Christmas book, The Polar Express at Children's National Medical Center, on December 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. First ladies dating back to Jacqueline Kennedy have made the annual visit to the Washington area hospital during the holiday season. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) First Lady Melania Trump sits with 3-year-old Mehreem Donahue in her lap, as she makes Christmas cards with military kids, at the Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots event, at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, December 13th, 2017. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

The White House told The New Yorker that Trump denies having had an affair with McDougal, saying, quote “This is an old story that is just more fake news. The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal.”

Melania has broken tradition before, with CNN reporting that she traveled alone on Jan 30th to the President’s state of the union address following the aftermath of allegations relating to Trump’s infidelity.

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