Laurence Haïm: "At Melania Trump, we don't feel anything"
In the documentary Melania Trump, this obscure object of power, journalist Laurence Haïm looks back on the rise of the young Slovenian beauty who became the first lady of the United States, and describes a model of success for many Americans. Interview.
Madame Figaro. - Your documentary Melania Trump, this obscure object of power (1) sheds psychological light on Melania Trump. How did you recompose the puzzle of his personality and his background about which we ultimately know so little?
Laurence Haïm. - (2) We don't know much and that's exactly what interested me. For months, I investigated his past and delved into his public statements. I realized that, first, Melania Trump is not the lovely idiot many imagine; that, second, there is consistency in the political message she sends by always being there to support her husband. Third, she maintains a certain mystery in her communication very well since she arrived in the White House, and I think we all love mysterious women.
We discover in your film that Melania left Slovenia overnight and that we lost track of her for three years before arriving in the United States ...
Yes and as soon as there is a rumor going out about her past, she sues. She's won $ 2 million to $ 3 million on lawsuits since she came to the White House. Since the election of Donald Trump, she has never returned to Slovenia. She is the perfect immigrant-turned-American who left her past behind.
The most mysterious First Lady in American history
What did you find out about her?
His sense of family. She adores her son Barron whom she fiercely protects against the slightest rumor, and despite all that can be said about her lack of smiles and refusal to hold her husband's hand, she is still behind Donald Trump. She is the most mysterious and silent First Lady in American history.
Its mystery, its silence, is that what makes its strength?
Right now, yes, because since you can't hear her, you can't criticize her too much. Even so, when she does appear in times of political crisis, she doesn't just say anything. In any case, she always sends the same message: "I support my husband". Moreover, in the recordings unveiled by her ex-advisor and friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff which were broadcast by CNN, Melania Trump talks about the situation of migrant children on the Mexican border and we almost believe hearing Donald Trump, with a charming voice .
I find that the clothes protect her even more
In her book, Melania and me, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff describes the first lady as cold and selfish. What is your opinion ?
I would say rather elegant, distant, reserved. I followed Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama when they were first ladies and there was always a moment when they showed a mood swift. At Melania, you don't feel anything. She still has that perfect mask of a lovely woman, extremely well dressed.
His clothing choices, precisely, were not always very judicious?
She understood the power of clothes and it is her way of communicating. The day she went in high heels to the victims of Storm Harvey, it was a rookie mistake. But in my opinion, the case of the I really don't care jacket. Do you? (I don't care. Don't you? Editor's note) is not a blunder. I think it was calculated, especially when you know how her stylist the French Hervé Pierre and her advisor Stephanie Grisham are with her and advise her.
Seen from France, Melania Trump is a first lady in the service of her husband's ambitions and who has no voice. Is this the case in your opinion?
Yes, and that’s why she inspires many women in conservative America. As they say in America, I stand behind (in French, I support), that is to say that she is always behind him no matter what he does. Basically what Melania says is: "I am a woman, I do not work, he brings me material comfort and the return is that I help him in his success and in his choices". She is not a rebel. If that were the case, she would have the opportunity to express herself through her association Be Best (in French, to be better). You don't see much of it in the way a traditional First Lady works. In general, they still have a huge cause, they use the press a lot to speak and promote their actions. This is not the case. We get press releases with nice photos, super well done little videos, but that's it. There is no message beyond that. She doesn't interview star journalists to say what she thinks.
Is this vision of women shared by many Americans?
In France, we talked a lot about America #MeToo but little about this other America which is extremely important to me and which is a conservative female America. We are beginning to discover this social movement since the appointment of the new Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barett. She is 48 years old, she is intelligent, she presents well, she has 7 children. This is the vision of a woman who is behind her husband no matter what, who dresses in high heels and fitted dresses to enhance her femininity, who has long hair and makeup. And at the same time, she is a woman who is against abortion, for the good of the family and who is involved in politics. My film also shows this conservative and Trumpist feminine America. The one who voted for him in 2016, despite his misogynistic outings about women "he catches by the pussy".
In the White House, there are only mini-Melania in stiletto wearing extensions
In your film, you give voice to these American women desperate to look like Melania Trump. How do you explain this influence?
Melania shows that she was successful because of her relationship and that she was strong enough to win billionaire playboy Donald Trump. She inspires women physically, who use cosmetic surgery to look like her. Donald Trump likes to surround himself with these kinds of women. In the White House, there are only mini-Melania in stiletto with extensions, like Hope Hicks or Kimberly Guilfoyle.
You'd think Melania wouldn't be what she is without Donald Trump. Is the reverse true?
I think for the 2016 election, Melania had an extremely important role during the video crisis (the one in which Donald Trump talks about women he grabs by the pussy, Ed). In her intervention on CNN, she played down her husband's statements by reducing them to changing rooms between men. And she even added that her husband respected her. She didn't have to say that. What also interested me in this couple was the pygmalion side of Donald Trump. When she arrived in New York, she didn't know anyone. But Donald Trump makes his contacts available to him. He calls the photographer Antoine Verglas and lends him his private jet for a photoshoot. The photos will make the front page of GQ in England. Donald Trump helped Melania a lot, he shaped her. Thanks to him, she got more modeling contracts. Then he moved her to Palm Beach and she became the Model Fiancee, then the Third Wife, then First Lady.
At the start of Donald Trump’s term, we remember the hashtag #FreeMelania and a First Lady quite uncomfortable in her role. Is the 2020 Melania more fulfilling in its function?
Not at all. I do not find her more fulfilled and even, on the contrary, more frozen, more tense, and still submissive. She does not break free and she remains loyal to Donald Trump until the end. If he is re-elected, I don't see him divorcing and I have no doubt that she will remain First Lady for four years.
What if he is not re-elected?
She can go to Palm Beach where the Trumpettes are waiting. She could create a clothing brand with stylist Hervé Pierre, or launch a beauty line. Like Michelle Obama, she will negotiate extremely well her memoirs which will be written by someone else. She will surely want to be charitable and will continue to care for children and fight opioids.
