Away from the spotlight, elusive and atypical: Where is Melania Trump?
While her husband flirts with the idea of running for the White House again in 2024, a year after her electoral defeat, Melania Trump lives away from the spotlight and turned into an atypical, elusive and belligerent former first lady with the critics of her.
As the whole world held its breath at the prospect of four more years of Donald Trump in power and the election night lengthened by the president's resistance to assume his defeat against Joe Biden, Melania Trump slept peacefully in her bedroom in the office. White House. “I knocked on the door several times, first softly, then louder. When I finally opened the door to the room I found her sound asleep (...) By then, I already knew how important rest was for her and even so, I could not believe that she was asleep at such a time, "writes Stephanie Grisham, former White House press secretary and former chief of staff for the first lady's office in her book I'll take your questions now, which hit US bookstores in October. That night, when the scrutiny was more advanced, Melania woke up from her restorative nap, composed her pristine first lady look and accompanied her husband in a public appearance at 2.30 in the morning in which Donald Trump proclaimed himself the winner of the elections while denouncing fraud at the polls.
A year after one of the most infamous moments in the history of the United States, the anecdote revealed by Grisham graphically summarizes the four years that Melania Trump lived in the White House and served, in an elusive way, the position of first lady. «She can be classified as a reticent first lady. Sometimes weeks went by without her seeing it. And as a former first lady, she continues to keep a very low profile, "explains Katherine Jellison, a professor at Ohio University and a specialist in American first ladies. “She was incredibly reserved, but I think she was also very unprepared. Her husband had no political experience, so I think her responsibilities and high expectations caught him off guard. It is not an easy position: it is not paid and there is no clear description of what the job consists of.
«She did not want to condemn the attack on the Capitol and supported the thesis of electoral fraud. She has always remained faithful to her husband.
In addition, Americans expect the first lady to be everything to everyone, "sums up Kate Andersen, journalist and author of the book First women: The grace and power of America's modern first ladies. Grisham's book, who resigned hours after the assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, is a compendium of juicy anecdotes about the intimate dynamics of marriage during her time in the White House. Grisham writes that the first one spent hours organizing her photo albums and that, like her own husband, she obsessively read everything the press published about her: "He did not miss any details. He had Google alerts configured for the content about her. and read everything. Furthermore, Melania never set foot in her office and never showed signs of life before 10 in the morning.
Because of her tendency to seclude herself in the presidential residence, the Secret Service called her Rapunzel behind her back. "She believed that relaxation was central to her beauty ritual, as were, of course, facials and spa treatments," writes Grisham, who also confirms rumors a thousand times repeated about Melania's bad relationship with Ivanka Trump. . He also dedicates a chapter to the episode of the infamous incendiary message jacket without providing a convincing explanation as to the motivation of the first lady.
Like Donald Trump, he obsessively reads everything that is written about her. She has Google alerts set up ».
For me, the most interesting thing that Grisham's book reveals is that Melania did not want to condemn the robbers on the Capitol while the attack was happening. Someone around her suggested that she write a tweet censoring the violence and Melania said no.
She also supported the thesis that the election had been stolen from her husband. She remained faithful to him during those days. In fact, she has never publicly distanced herself from him. After all, they are still married, "explains Daniel Lippman, a Politico journalist who covers the White House and Washington news. Her public appearances since January are counted: a brief visit in July to New York, where she was photographed in and out of Trump Tower, a baseball game with her husband in October and ... little else. "Since she left the White House in January, she has not visited Washington again," Lippman explains. “She is very focused on her son, I imagine she still reads everything the press says about her husband and she is still one of Donald Trump's main confidants. She hasn't launched any new initiatives and it doesn't seem like she's writing a memoir or anything like that. She is enjoying her time away from the spotlight after four years of intense public scrutiny, ”explains the journalist.
Trump splits her time between Palm Beach, Florida, where her son Barron attends college, and her husband's private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. In Mar-a-Lago, the private club that serves as the family residence, her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, have their own private apartment.
If she decides to come forward, she will support him. You have to understand that Melania is a true believer in Donald Trump. After all, she married him.
In February, Trump announced via Twitter the opening of his office, with a staff of three. «Mrs. Melania Trump announces the opening of the Office of Melania Trump. For more news and updates, follow this account », the profile briefly explained that, since then, has limited itself to remembering moments of her time as first lady, congratulating national holidays such as July 4 or remembering the victims of 9/11. . But did she ever open an office after that announcement? Nothing has been heard about it again. So I would say that the American public has no expectations placed on it, ”explains Katherine Jellison.
Lippman agrees on this in that assessment: "I do not think that she is going to have a public activity or that she is going to dedicate herself to the defense of any specific cause." Her most famous initiative, the controversial Be Best anti-bullying campaign, has also fallen into oblivion. “It was too big a project. The most successful first ladies in recent history are those who focus on very specific goals: Michelle Obama's Let's move campaign, for example. Or the literacy of Barbara and Laura Bush. The more specific the platform, the better, ”explains Kate Andersen.
Trump was not a conventional first lady and she is not an ordinary former first lady. “As a former first lady she is behaving much like she did while in office: we don't see or hear much from her. She also did not invite Jill Biden to have the traditional tea at the White House after the election. It was a missed opportunity and an unprecedented event in modern history. While Michelle Obama or Laura Bush began to write their memoirs as soon as they left the White House and Hillary Clinton made a political career, the only thing that is known of Melania Trump's daily activities is that she spends much of her time in restorative sessions of spa.
