8 striking revelations from the new book about Melania Trump - about her fashion style, life and power in the White House
First lady Melania Trump remains an intriguing woman: she is outwardly closed and she disregards White House conventions. The first lady is also a rewarding subject for the most diverse conspiracy theories.
A new book that appeared on Tuesday December 3, gives an insight into the life of Melania. You will read about her relations within the government and about the sleep arrangements within the White House. The book also gives an impression of the power that Melania has in her marriage to President Donald Trump.
Free, Melania, is the unauthorized biography of Kate Bennett. These are the most striking revelations in the book.
First lady Melania Trump has an icy relationship with the vice president's wife, Karen Pence.
Bennett writes that on her way to the Texas town of Corpus Christi hit by Hurricane Harvey, Melania had not invited Pence to her private cabin on board the presidential plane - or that Pence had declined the invitation. Nor did she take off her high-heeled shoes (10 centimeters) after they landed so that Melania towered “almost comically” over Pence who simply wore flats.
Bennett sees this as a confirmation of her suspicion that the first and second lady are not that close. Usually Melania wears shoes without heels when she appears next to someone who is not wearing high heels or who is smaller. “Strange and telling” to their relationship, writes Benett.
The text on her coat was a stab at Trump's eldest daughter and White House adviser Ivanka.
"I believed, and still do, that the coat was a stab at Ivanka and her almost continuous attempts to commit to positive government talk," Bennett writes.
Bennett also describes the First Lady 's relationship with Ivanka as "cordial, but not close". The advisor's constant presence with her father in the White House is frustrating for Melania who is the only one, as she writes, "can speak to the president without reservation."
There are no coincidences in the first lady's choice of clothes.
Whether it's the "I don't care care" coat or the pink "pussy blouse" that Melania wore to a debate in 2016, her clothes are constantly sparking new theories.
She wore the pink blouse after the publication of a sound recording in which Trump, then a candidate, bragged about grabbing the genitals of women. Bennett writes that the specific intent of her clothing may be unclear, but an apparent meaning is certainly no accident.
"I've written about her long enough to know that everything she does has a purpose, including the clothes she wears," Bennett writes.
There are recognizable patterns in Melania's clothing choices, Bennett speculates. According to her, Melania wears men's clothing when her marriage to Trump is in a slump. "Because Trump notoriously likes to see women in tight, short, ultra-sexy and feminine dresses."
The first lady not only has her own room, but even a separate floor in the White House.
The book describes how the president sleeps in the master bedroom on the first floor of the residence, while the first lady on the second stays in a space consisting of two rooms. This departure was previously used by former first lady Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson.
Next to her bedroom is a "glam room" where she does her daily hair and make-up. There is also a private gym with a pilates machine.
Since the Kennedy’s and the Johnsons, the Trumps are the first couple in the White House to have separate bedrooms, Bennett notes.
Despite her icy appearance, Melania is friendly and down to earth.
The straight face that Melania shows at many of her public appearances is a result of her Slovenian upbringing, friends of the first lady told Bennett.
Despite the public view that she is cold or stiff, Melania is a warm friend. Specifically, she texted White House Secretary Stephanie Grisham with emojis to "convey happiness, disappointment or surprise."
Although the White House considered Melania's hospital stay not very serious, the first lady underwent serious medical intervention.
In June 2018, the first lady spent five days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington. Bennett has learned from a reliable source that Melania was here for an embolization procedure, which is to occlude part of a blood vessel to prevent bleeding from that blood vessel. Bennett writes this "was not a minor procedure" but a "dangerous and complicated procedure".
“Added to that is the amount of pain that good friends say she had had a long time prior to surgery. If she did not recover sufficiently carefully and extensively, this type of condition could lead to the loss of her kidney, ”Bennett writes.
Her derided wellness program for children Be Best seems like a sham.
Trump unveiled the campaign in May 2018 and has visited schools and spas and even toured Africa on behalf of Be Best.
But "to this day there is no clear outline, timeline, or indication of any progress," Bennett writes. "The chances of it ever having the impact of Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign or Nancy Reagan's Just Say No is very slim, if at all."
Melania has more power than most people think she is.
Melania follows her own agenda much more than is typical of political husbands. When Donald Trump launched an exhaustive campaign, Melania kept her distance and only participated in events and performances she had selected herself, Bennett writes.
Rather than following the typical pattern of a campaign woman turned first lady, “Melania is guided by her intuition”. She does not hesitate to bend unceremoniously to the president's ear and voice her opinion as no one else can.
Playing her role as first lady perfectly complements Trump's presidency, which also defies boundaries, Bennett said.
