Melania Trump's hat auction baffles even her acquaintances
Melania Trump's announcement last week that she was going to autograph and auction a hat for her personal benefit along with two other items, with a starting price of $ 250,000, puzzles even those who know the former first lady well.
She always viewed her role differently than most of her recent predecessors. She resisted giving public speeches, rarely took trips, did not actively campaign, and at times expressed opinions or ideas contrary to those of her husband, former President Donald Trump. Now her expensive initial offer is a reminder of her own concern for doing what she wants rather than caring for the American public, and she exposes the former first lady to further criticism.
"(The sale of her hat) lends credence to the idea that the Trumps were always cheeky when it came to making money and that Melania continues to prove that she is a Trump to the core," said Kate Andersen Brower, CNN contributor and author. from "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies."
The notion that Trump seeks his own personal gain, at the expense of tradition and respect for his former role, was echoed multiple times by the 10 people CNN spoke to for this story, including several former officials in the administration of Trump. CNN reached out to Melania Trump for comment, but received no response.
Trump is auctioning off the wide-brimmed, crepe white hat she wore in April 2018 for French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the White House. The hat, created by Trump's personal stylist, designer Hervé Pierre, matched the white suit from the Michael Kors collection that he wore for the occasion; the suit was made to measure, the hat was made to measure.
In addition to the hat, Trump included a watercolor of her profile face, wearing the hat, which on his website is called "The Head of State Collection," and a non-expendable token (NFT) of the watercolor, with an animation. An NFT is a blockchain authenticated digital collectible that is typically a piece of digital art. The NFT is the second he appears. The first, a watercolor of her eyes, went on sale for a limited time, until December 31. The current auction, which includes the hat, the watercolor and the NFT, closes on January 25, according to Trump's website.
All of the items that Trump is selling can only be purchased through cryptocurrency. Her foray into NFTs, mostly a B-list celebrity fad, was questionable in terms of a post-first lady business, but it's the sale of an item she wore at an official White House event that is. that she has those who know her scratching their heads.
"What's next? The jacket?" Said a former close friend of Trump, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity so he could speak freely, without retaliation. The person was referring to the jacket "I really don't care. Do u?" that Trump used in June 2018 on his trip to Texas to visit facilities that house detained families who crossed into the United States.
"It's not okay," said another person who served in a senior position in the Trump White House. "It's unseemly. He's trying to build a nest of cash on paper for which the American people chose her husband."
Another person, a friend of Trump for many years before and during his tenure in the White House, was hesitant to criticize the former first lady, but this person did question why Trump has not made it clear whether most of the money will go to charity. and not directly into your pocket. "If he is going to do this, sell his personal things, he has to publicly disclose the finances," said this person, who is no longer close to Trump.
A small paragraph on the page of Trump's new website mentions his intention to put at least a portion of the proceeds to a charity.
"A portion of the proceeds from this auction will provide foster children with access to computer and technological education," the website reads. CNN has repeatedly asked Trump's office to clarify how much it will allocate, and the exact recipients of that donation, and has never received a response.
"When I was first lady I thought I was out of tune and didn't understand the optics of how some things would fall," says Brower. "Now I think she knows exactly how things look and just doesn't care. There is no way she could have walked into this auction without knowing how unheard of selling state visit items is."
Traditional process
When a first lady dons a suit, she is often cataloged by a member of her staff from her East Wing. During Trump's tenure, this work fell to his communications director, and later his chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, who kept copies of Trump's styles for the most important public occasions with detailed notes from the designers involved, according to a person familiar with the tasks of the staff. The breakdown is apparently for posterity: much of a first lady's wardrobe is kept and often donated to a presidential library or other museum.
"Many of these items have particular historical significance: the dress worn at a groundbreaking ceremony or the dress worn at an opening ball, for example," says Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, the nonprofit organization. supporting the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. "These items are cataloged and kept in the library along with other administration artifacts. They can often be loaned to other museums."
The LBJ library includes a section dedicated to former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, which includes several important artifacts and a good selection of her clothing. Updegrove says that personal items help to "personify these often distant historical figures, humanize them and bring them closer. It is often the closest we will get to seeing them in person."
And a first lady's wardrobe is often the most popular part of a presidential library.
"In 2014, when the President and Mrs. Obama were at the LBJ Library for the Civil Rights Summit," recalls Updegrove, "President Obama saw (Lady Bird's) dresses and told me he had no illusions that many visitors would come to his presidential library to learn what happened during his administration. 'They will come to see Michelle's dresses,' he said. "
With the sale of Trump's signed hat, there will be one less item that the public will eventually be able to see in person, should a Donald Trump presidential library ever be realized.
"While it is within their right to do so, it is inconsistent with what other former first ladies have done, who have donated similar items to the National Archives and presidential libraries in the interest of preserving history and giving back to the American people," Updegrove said.
"Money is money; business is business"
Letting go of tradition and opting for the highest financial gain is a hallmark of Trump. For decades, Donald Trump and his children and his wives have capitalized on the popularity of the Trump name and brand. This has made Trump and his family revered and very wealthy.
In 2010, Melania Trump began creating her own brand, designing and selling "Melania Trump" jewelry and watches at QVC. Soon after, she tried a skincare business that never came to fruition. "I don't know why everyone is so shocked by this," a former Trump administration official and current Trump supporter told CNN about her effort. "She's married to Donald Trump. This is what they do. Money is money; business is business."
And yet the criticism of the former first lady is that she is blurring the line between business and American history for her personal gain. This "lowers" the position of first lady, Brower said, but noted that many former first ladies have made a profit from the sale of her memoirs and speeches and now, in the case of Michelle Obama, from books and production deals. "But there is something inherently dull and lazy about what Melania is doing," she added.
However, it might not be as lucrative as Trump would hope, based on previous auctions of memorabilia of the first lady: "When someone passes away, and their estate is sold, that is when their objects usually increase in price, because it is something emotional and ephemeral." says John Reznikoff, president and founder of the Connecticut-based University Archives. Reznikoff has managed several auctions for antique first ladies items, including a Mary Todd Lincoln bible, which sold for $ 90,000, and accessories that belonged to Jacqueline Kennedy, including a pair of white gloves that fetched $ 2,400.
Reznikoff, who has been valuing historical objects for auction for 40 years, noted that the fact that Trump is alive and not as universally beloved as Kennedy, for example, makes the initial bid of a quarter of a million dollars for his NFT, his signed hat and his watercolor are overrated. "If I were to advise you as a customer - and I am apolitical - I would advise you that a better starting price for the hat alone would be $ 5,000," Reznikoff said. Reznikoff believes that the "I really don't care" jacket, and perhaps also the helmet that Trump wore in Africa and made headlines, could reach higher numbers. But he added that even those would not come close to $ 250,000. .
Kennedy's estate went up for auction at Sotheby's in 1996, two years after her death, and the sale of her personal belongings brought her family millions of dollars, with most of the items well in excess of the initial estimates of it. Reznikoff said Kennedy's decades-long popularity and status as a fashion icon, as well as the wide array of worldly and historical personal items, were the ideal recipe for a multi-million dollar swag.
"In my experience in this business, living people who are famous, unless they are bankrupt, generally do not auction their household items," he said.
The momentum of Trump's decision to auction off a personal garment may never be known. "She is reserved, she is never going to say what it is about," said the former administration official who worked with the first lady for several years. "And she has never, ever, cared what they think of her, so all these criticisms mean nothing."
