What does Melania think of Trump running again in 2024?
Despite decisively losing to Joe Biden, a complete and total lack of evidence pointing to supposed voter fraud, and going an astonishing 1 for 53 in court cases attempting to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, Donald Trump still cannot admit he’s not going to be president come January 20. On Wednesday, that refusal to accept reality hit what in normal times would be rock bottom but in this case is probably just a resting place before falling another several hundred feet through the center of the earth, when Trump suggested it’s clear something nefarious went on with the election because the people who take bets at the dog track at one point predicted he was going to win:
Yet even as Trump insists he still has a shot at serving a second term, a part of him seems to know that’s never going to happen, hence the suggestion that he’s going to run again in 2024. (“It’s been an amazing four years. We are trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years,” Trump told Republican National Committee members last week.) Of course, the ex-real estate developer—who will be 78 in 2024 and quite clearly doesn’t actually like the work of being commander in chief—famously teased a presidential bid for years before he actually announced his candidacy in 2015, so it’s entirely possibly he’ll claim he’s running right up until the time he doesn’t. But even the outside possibility of him getting anywhere near the White House ever again is a deeply disturbing thought to millions of Americans, a group that apparently includes his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
“She just wants to go home,” a source familiar with Melania’s “state of mind” told CNN’s Kate Bennet. Asked how the first lady feels about the possibility her husband could run again in 2024, the source added: “That might not go over well.”
Which is not exactly a shock! For one thing, the first lady basically had to be paid off to move to Washington in 2017, reportedly delaying her move until the terms of her prenup with the president were renegotiated. (The White House denied this.) For another, like Trump, she seems to hate living in the White House and all the responsibilities that come with it (see: expressing sympathy for migrant children separated from their parents; creating initiatives that don’t read like SNL skits; giving a f--k about Christmas). So yeah, she’s ready to get the hell out of there and never go back. Per CNN:
"While the President is busy figuring out a way to stay in the White House, the first lady is determining what to put in storage, what goes to Trump’s New York City digs, and what should be tagged for shipment to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida…. The first lady quietly brought on Marcia Lee Kelly to her scant East Wing staff in April as a special government employee who could add gravitas and experience. She is unpaid and serves in a volunteer capacity but her job as Trump’s special adviser proved helpful as the waning months of her first-term tenure."
Apparently one of Kelly’s tasks was to figure out if Melania got any taxpayer funds while serving in the official capacity of ex-first lady, which is such a Trumpian thing to expect that we assume it brought a tear of pride to the president’s eye:
"Kelly had previously run the White House Office of Administration and after it became clear Trump would need to prep for her life after Washington the first lady told Kelly to discreetly ask West Wing acquaintances and a member of the Office of Management and Budget whether there were taxpayer funds allocated to former first ladies, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
The short answer is no. While there are post-presidential perks for such things for the outgoing commander in chief, budgets to set up an official office and staff and cover some travel costs, there is nothing from the government for any first lady, save a paltry $20,000-a-year pension, which is paid out only if her husband dies."
As for other sources of post–White House revenue, Melania will reportedly be following in other first ladies’ footsteps by publishing a book, though hers will be slightly different in that it will be less of word-filled reflection on her life and time in Washington and more of a picture book:
"…the first lady is hyper-focused of late on her legacy. One thing Trump is considering is a book, though it will likely not be a memoir—the post–White House writing of which is a tradition most first ladies have adhered to. Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, and Laura Bush’s memoir, Spoken From the Heart, were massive best sellers.
Instead, Trump is said to be toying with writing a photo-centric coffee table book about White House hospitality history, or one perhaps centered on the design projects she has completed while first lady, according to a source in the publishing industry familiar with preliminary discussions."
That design project was the tennis pavilion, renovations to which were announced in the midst of a global pandemic. In a statement, the first lady’s chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, insisted to CNN that Melania is hard at work as ever. “Monday she unveiled her most current effort in preserving the White House by announcing the completion of the tennis pavilion,” Grisham said. “She also recently unveiled a new piece of art in the newly renovated Rose Garden. Her office just revealed this year’s Christmas décor. Her schedule remains full with her duties as a mother, wife, and first lady of the United States.”
