Melania Trump is the First Lady who has rarely been there.
The wife of Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump came under public scrutiny early on when her first speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention was immediately accused of plagiarism. Since then, it has been clear that she rejects the established notion that attending an event is mandatory when you are married to a US president. In a uncommon appearance at Trump’s side during the RNC in July, Melania Trump showed her affection for her husband on stage and waved to delegates – but said nothing.
Now she raises her voice.
A few weeks before the presidential election on November 5, Melania Trump is releasing a series of videos in advance of her memoir of the same name in which she addresses her favorite topics – her nude photos, motherhood, the media.
Timing is also crucial. At least until Election Day, Melania Trump is still a potential First Lady. Moreover, her marketability depends to some extent on American voters, who must choose between her husband and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
“She’s taking advantage of the time she has left before the election. Her (market) value is gone if she’s no longer a possible first lady,” said Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania Trump’s former friend and adviser who supports Harris. “If Harris wins, I think people will want to move on.”
And so Melania Trump’s memoirs come out just weeks after two assassination attempts on her husband, whom she described in a July 14 statement as “the generous and caring man I have been with through the best of times and the worst.”
Like her husband, Melania Trump, 54, has made it clear from the beginning of her family’s political saga that she is willing to break norms without apologizing.
“I have a mind of my own,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2016. “I am my own person and I think my husband likes that about me.”
Melania Trump speaks out about her complaints
Like anyone who publishes a memoir, Melania Trump must care deeply about what people think of her. She begins her story with a complaint.
“As a private citizen who has often been the subject of public criticism and misrepresentation,” she says in the trailer for her memoir on her website, “I feel a responsibility to get the facts straight. I believe it is important to share my perspective,” which she calls “the truth.”
More complaints follow, set to dramatic background music. In one, she asks why “the media decided to scrutinize my glorification of the human form in a fashion photoshoot” while classical works of art such as Michelangelo’s David scroll across the screen to dramatic music. This is a reference to nude photos of her from her modelling work in the 1990s (then she was known as Melania Knauss) that were leaked during the 2016 campaign, partly in connection with her work visa.
In another, she takes aim at the FBI’s August 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago, which sought classified documents the administration says Trump illegally retained from his presidency and hampered efforts to get them back. Trump has pleaded not guilty and a judge dismissed the case, which prosecutors are appealing. She said the FBI searched her personal belongings and said the incident should serve as an unspecified “warning” to Americans.
“I never thought the government here in America would invade my privacy,” she says to gloomy music.
Another video refutes criticism of the 2020 Rose Garden incident, when the then-First Lady renovated the iconic Kennedy-era gathering place near the Oval Office. Historians still grit their teeth over the renovation, which they see as evidence of disrespect for the White House. On the contrary, she says in this video about the Rose Garden: “I felt a deep responsibility to respect the tradition and preserve its splendor for future generations.”
Motherhood, she says in another video, brings her “tremendous fulfillment.”
She has her financial future in mind
Melania Trump is pursuing her and Barron’s financial future.
Trump’s financial report released in August shows that his wife earned, among other things, $330,000 from the sale of NFTs and $237,500 for a speech in April to the Log Cabin Republicans in Palm Beach, Florida.
She also stayed in New York for months after her husband began his presidency. The official reason was that she wanted to wait until Barron finished the school year rather than kick him out mid-semester. In fact, the delay was her attempt to exert pressure to renegotiate the couple’s prenuptial agreement, according to Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan’s 2020 book, which condemned the Trump White House. Melania Trump wanted better terms for herself and for Barron.
She publishes her books with Skyhorse Publishing – not with Winning Team, where her husband’s three books have been published since he left office.
Before choosing Skyhorse, their representatives contacted at least three major New York publishers, but they were unable to agree on the terms of a deal, several publishing officials told the Associated Press. The representatives were not authorized to speak about their interactions with Trump’s representatives and asked to remain anonymous. They all said that negotiations never went beyond general discussions and that Trump himself did not participate.
Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were among the former first ladies who worked with major New York publishers and received millions of dollars in advances. Trump’s decision to work with Skyhorse, where her fellow writers include such controversial public figures as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Woody Allen, was not necessarily her first choice, publishing sources say.
A Skyhorse spokesperson declined to comment on the publisher’s negotiations with Trump, citing company policy. The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
She stands out among the First Ladies of the USA
Of course, there is a whole other story about Trump’s two impeachments, criminal convictions, rape allegations and hush money scheme to prevent Melania Trump from finding out he slept with porn star Stormy Daniels. There is no indication that these are even indirectly mentioned in his wife’s memoir. The former president denies doing anything wrong.
Melania Trump was familiar with her husband’s personality early on and showed signs of how she would handle the times when his cockiness and misogyny became public. The release of the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump brags about grabbing women’s genitals is one such example. According to The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, Trump’s campaign team insisted that Melania stand next to her husband at a press conference. Melania Trump watched the tape and gave her response.
“No,” she reportedly said, and instead insisted on a statement saying her husband’s words were “unacceptable and offensive” and urging voters to accept his apology, as she had done.
She clearly sees herself as an vigorous member of the First Ladies Club, and mused to Harper’s Bazaar in 2016 that she admired Jackie Kennedy’s elegance and appealing manner. She stands out among historians in unflattering terms, and it is unclear how history will remember her.
Robert Watson, an expert on first ladies and a history professor at Lynn University in Florida, points out that Melania Trump’s “unforced errors” during her husband’s time in office reflect poorly on her. They include “destroying the beloved White House Rose Garden” and wearing a jacket that read “I really don’t care, do I?” on the back after visiting newborn children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Even her “Be Best” campaign, Watson said, can’t compare to Lady Bird Johnson’s conservation program, the Bush family’s efforts to promote reading and Rosalynn Carter’s advocacy for mental health.
“One of the cardinal rules for a first lady is to do no harm… in that regard, Melania falls short of expectations,” Watson said in an email. “She will not be remembered in the way so many beloved first ladies have been remembered.”
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Kellman reported from London. Associated Press writers Rhonda Shafner and Hillel Italie contributed to this story from New York. Follow Kellman on X at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman
