The woman who doesn't speak but says something to everyone
Melania Trump divides the observing world public. Is the first lady as empty as her gaze? Or is she the subversive heroine at the side of villain President Trump?
"I need a hero", sang Bonnie Tyler in 1984 and had quite specific ideas: a man on horseback, in a passionate ebb from the last fight. In his saddlebags he conveys recognition and the idea of a better life. Bonnie Tyler's Schmachtzeile has nonetheless become a household word - who doesn't need a hero sometimes? In political America, it seems, the longing is greater than ever: while some with Donald Trump have already chosen their savior from perceived social disdain for the White House, others cling desperately to a heroine. No, not Hillary Clinton. Ironically, First Lady Melania Trump should be the good one in the bad political game.
To give the whole thing a romantic note, she can of course only play this role in secret. Because she is trapped in marriage to the powerful villain. This reading persists, and there have even been pseudo-feminist memes: For example, Twitter users speculated under the hashtag #FreeMelania that the new first lady did not give her predecessor Michelle Obama any jewelry on her first visit to the White House. She is said to have sent a cry for help - appropriately packaged in a turquoise Tiffany's box. There is great hope that the First Lady will be more than the cliché of a Trophy Wife. Can she please, please be the subversive force in the bed of America's most powerful man?
This hope is so great that it has so far not been stifled by interview statements from Melania Trump: "The people, they don't really know me. (...) Have no pity on me," she once said.
The narrative of the first lady, who, in contrast to her clumsy husband, communicates with subtle signs, was also found in the coverage of the new presidential couple's first trip abroad. While Donald Trump pushed other heads of state away - figuratively and literally - Melania Trump impressed observers with the diplomatic skills of her dressing room. What is special: Not only fashion magazines found appreciative words, but also the media that had revealed new details of the Russia affair every day in the past few weeks and thus put Donald Trump in distress.
The New York Times, for example, saw the black designer jumpsuit Melania Trump wore when she arrived in Saudi Arabia, a modern take on the abaya, the traditional garb of Muslim women. She could also have aimed at the mighty message of her wide, golden waist belt. In fact, such overcritical to malicious interpretations, no matter how small details, are in vogue when it comes to Trump supporters. (When government spokesman Sean Spicer recently wore his American flag pin upside down, it was taken as an outward sign of internal derangement.) But in this case it seemed to be about making the first lady the heroine of history.
It was Melania Trump, noted the Times, who elicited a smile from Pope Francis in Rome - while the pontiff refused her husband even polite, facial indifference. The photos of evidence of the sour Pope went around the world. Harper's Bazaar summed up: "President Trump went on his first trip abroad (...) but it is Melania who comes back with a new reputation."
The First Lady has achieved the minimum protocol goal. Not more
But is that really true? After nine days and five countries, how much more does the world know about Melania Trump, née Krauss, 47 years old, a Slovenian ex-model (all of these things have long been known)? What does it look like, the new picture of the first lady? After this trip, aren't there just more pictures of Melania Trump - which actually only show one thing: fashion consciousness?
Yes, Melania Trump was just as appropriately dressed when the Saudi king visited Riyadh as she was at the Pope's audience in Rome. But just because the president ignores political conventions as well as facts does not have to be a reason for praise if the first lady achieves the minimum protocol goal. Shouldn't a heroine show courage?
