Melania Trump disassociates herself from her husband's second impeachment trial and is bitter about Jill Biden's publicity
As former President Donald Trump watches his second impeachment unfold, Melania Trump spends most of her time after leaving the White House relaxing in the spa and staying out of the arguments.
Although she has been reviewing the trial, says a source familiar with her level of interest, the former first lady has mentally left Washington behind, unlike her husband.
According to several people who spoke to CNN about Melania Trump's life in the weeks after she left the nation's capital, her daily schedule has nothing to do with politics, Congress, trials, or blocked accounts on the networks. social.
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"She goes to the spa, has lunch, goes to the spa (again) and has dinner with Donald on the patio," said a person familiar with Melania Trump's schedule at Mar-a-Lago, her home in Palm Beach, Florida. . «She Rinse and repeat. Every day".
Another person familiar with her daily routine confirms Trump's affinity for the private club's spa facilities, noting that it is not unusual for her to spend several hours a day there, enjoying the benefits available to her, often going twice in a 24-hour period, for massages, nail care, facials, or other menu items.
"He almost always dines," said a third person who has seen Trump outside the spa. She spends her afternoons on the outdoor patio at Mar-a-Lago, where she prefers fish as her main course, according to the source, and is often joined at the table by her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, who reside in a private suite of
several rooms in Mar-a-Lago during much of the year.
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Although she is now a former First Lady of the United States, her daily routine has not undergone a significant change.
"It's pretty much the same as before (I was first lady) or even when I was coming over for the holidays," said the source familiar with Trump's schedule, noting that there isn't much evidence to outline before and after the House. Blanca in terms of activities or work.
Melania Trump's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN.
Trump is in the midst of establishing an official office and has hired three former employees of his East Wing staff in hopes of resurrecting his Be Best campaign of helping children, continuing his "job," as he refers to this in front of his friends.
Melania Trump's Bitter Moments by Jill Biden
Yet there have been moments of bitterness and regret, say several people with knowledge of Trump's conversations of late, especially since Joe Biden's inauguration and regarding the activities of his successor, Jill Biden.
When Trump left Washington, he had the worst favorability ratings of any modern first lady leaving the White House, according to a poll conducted by SSRS for CNN.
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At one point early in her tenure, that was not the case: Melania Trump was the most beloved member of the Trump family and the administration at large. But it's possible that Donald Trump's incendiary style, though not necessarily something his wife condoned, had the residual effect of undermining the first lady's popularity. After the Jan.6 attack on the Capitol, Melania Trump did not make a statement denouncing the violence for five days.
"She could see how things were going to turn out for her," said a former White House official who spoke to CNN, noting that Trump felt she was in a situation where everyone was losing out whether she spoke in public or do not. If she condemned the violence, her husband and her base would become angry and it would create a stir over her break with the president. And by staying silent, she was implying that she supported what happened.
"Once (the insurrection) happened, she knew that she would gain nothing by speaking or doing something, so she did nothing," said the former White House official.
Two members of the first lady's staff resigned shortly after the deadly insurrection in protest of the administration's apparent acquiescence.
Trump, according to a person familiar with her schedule, had planned to go to Biden's inauguration and learned that she would not be attending when her husband tweeted that he would not be attending.
Disappointed with the way she left Washington, she has been "bitter and cold" at times with her husband, upset that her image became collateral damage in her quest to denounce the elections and seek a peaceful transfer of power. said two of the people familiar with his thinking in recent days.
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But Trump's most fervent anger comes from seeing Jill Biden start her term in the East Wing almost the antithesis of the path Trump took. Biden moved into the White House immediately to begin with, hiring and developing a staff two weeks after the inauguration. Meanwhile, Trump stayed in New York for the first five months of the administration, ostensibly to let his son Barron finish the school year; she never had more than 12 people on her White House staff, sometimes there were only seven. (Jill Biden already has nearly a dozen full-time staff members and she is expected to add more.)
Although Melania Trump reportedly left a welcome note for Biden at the Executive Residence, she has yet to speak to him, avoiding a long tradition of first ladies.
Trump has also taken note of the publicity his successor has garnered.
Within weeks of becoming first lady, Biden did an interview with People magazine, and appeared on the cover of it with her husband, the new president. She also appeared in Parents magazine, where she spoke about her empathy for families dealing with her children's homeschooling during the pandemic. The Bidens also appeared in a televised message that aired before last Sunday's Super Bowl.
Jill Biden has held at least seven events or talks since she became first lady, on topics including military families, cancer prevention, health care, community college education, and teacher support. Before leaving Washington on January 20, Melania Trump had not been seen publicly for three weeks and had not held a solo public event for six weeks, something not entirely uncommon for the former first lady, who chose to keep a calendar. less solid, her staff said, to focus more on being a wife and mother.
