Melania Trump, a "First Lady" who seeks to be forgotten
Magazine covers, outings with the New York jet set ... Melania Trump emerged from the shadows with the election of her husband to the White House. Since then, she tries as best she can to be forgotten. Portrait of the First Lady of the United States who celebrates her 50 years, this Sunday, April 26.
For Melania, the challenge was great: to succeed Michelle Obama. Blame it on her husband Donald Trump, elected 45th President of the United States against Hillary Clinton in November 2016. A victory that resounded like a thunderclap around the world, including among the Trumps. Since then, Melania Trump has played the discretion card. Some even say that she never knew how to find her place in the White House, too far (perhaps) from the life of socialite she led in Manhattan. Portrait of the First Lady of the United States, who turns 50 this Sunday, April 26.
Modeling and meeting Donald
It was during an interview, granted to the ABC channel in 2015, in her triplex penthouse in Trump Tower that we discovered Melania, a 1.80m creature in a pink sheath dress. The wife of the real estate magnate appeared in the modest salon "inspired by Versailles". With an Eastern accent still present, she explained that her absence from Donald Trump's campaign was a personal choice. "A child needs to have a parent at home, I have to take care of him," she said, referring to Barron, their then 10-year-old son. Since then, her husband has been elected to the White House. Bitterly, she left Manhattan for Washington. Unlike Michelle Obama, very invested as First Lady, Melania prefers to step aside. And talk about her as little as possible.
His life had not yet started with thunderous applause. Born in a small village in the former Yugoslavia, Melania left her country at 18 for Milan and then Paris, in order to start a modeling career. Arriving in the United States in 1996, it was two years later that she met a certain Donald Trump at a party. Melania finds him "very charming". The ladies' man then asks her for her number but she refuses because he is accompanied. A week later, she contacted him again: “I couldn't escape his charm. There were sparks. ” The couple married in January 2005 in Palm Beach, Florida.
The ideal woman for Trump?
Goodwill ambassador of the Red Cross, always impeccable at charity galas (never far from her husband), creator of a cosmetic brand, Melania ™ Caviar Complexe C6 ... Since she was naturalized American ( in 2006), the real estate mogul's wife is living the American dream. So when the question of immigration arises, the pet peeve of the very conservative Donald Trump who wants to "deport illegal immigrants and build a wall between Mexico and the United States", she answers ABC without taking any risk: " I went through a long process to become an American citizen. People have to obey the law. ”
Regarding women, the main targets of the Republican President's attacks, the model once again supports her husband. “He treats everyone the same. It's only more specific when it comes to women, ”she argues, ignoring CEO Trump's misogynistic remarks. Recall that in 2012, he noted, about Arianna Huffington the co-founder of the Huffington Post: "She is not very attractive". Or, "Rosie O’Donnell is just as disgusting on the inside as it is on the outside."
In video, Melania Trump plagiarizes Michelle Obama's speech
From "GQ" to the White House
Melania Trump emerged from the shadows at the convention of the Republicans in Cleveland on July 18, 2016. It was on this occasion that she affirmed that her husband was "ready to lead the country" and wanted to be the president of all Americans. The former model added that if she had "the privilege" of becoming first lady, she intended to be interested in those who "need it most", such as "women and children". After almost four years in the White House, his record remains meager.
With the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, Melania Trump has become the first tenant of the White House whose mother tongue is not English, the first to be a third wife, and finally the first to have been a model ... with a more or less sulphurous past. From nude covers for GQ, as The Daily Mail recalls, to swimsuit photos for Sports Illustrated, Melania Trump never seemed to worry about the repercussions that these images could have on her husband's campaign: “The photos were a bit risky yes, but nothing special. It's part of the job and I was very successful, ”she explained to ABC cameras.
Flying to her rescue, Donald Trump was once again relying on provocation: “I re-looked at her photos in a swimsuit, she is superb. And if I have the chance to win, the public will be very lucky to have Melania as first lady. She is beautiful, attractive and she has a good heart, ”declared the man who was about to become the 45th President of the United States.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the First Lady of the United States has been very discreet, as usual. In mid-April, however, she left her reserve, in order to hear from Boris Johnson and his fiancée, Carrie Symonds. The couple had, in fact, contracted the Covid-19. A few days earlier, she had wanted to hear from Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, now cured of the coronavirus.
