Melania Trump’s new memoir offers another glimpse into a life she has carefully kept hidden from the public eye, but readers who want to understand one of the most enigmatic first ladies in modern history should read the gilded You won’t be able to pass through the main gate.
First ladies write memoirs because they want to be understood. (A big contract doesn’t hurt, either.) Hillary Clinton wrote about her husband’s affair with an intern and the toxic political process that followed. Michelle Obama revealed that she was angrier than ever during his presidency, especially at her husband’s critics. Laura Bush used her book to express support for same-sex marriage and abortion rights.
It’s as if you have to survive the role before you can write about it.
But Mrs. Trump says her time as first lady has been mostly smooth sailing. Her book, an early version of which was obtained by The New York Times ahead of its release next week, does not reveal that she holds any different views than her husband’s, other than supporting abortion rights.
In fact, her complaints about the press, the “opposition,” and those in her inner circle who believe she and her husband have failed are very similar to her husband’s, only dressed in haute couture.
Here are five points.
The big revelation is that she supports abortion rights.
Mrs. Trump made headlines this week after excerpts from her book were reported that revealed her support for abortion rights. This is a notable position given that her husband appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion procedures.
“A woman’s fundamental right to personal freedom over her life gives her the power to terminate a pregnancy if she chooses,” Mrs. Trump wrote. “Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying a woman control over her own body.”
Mrs. Trump also expressed support for certain abortions performed late in pregnancy, saying many cases are “extremely rare” and calling for “common sense standards.”
This is the most surprising opinion she expressed. Some of her opinions align with conservative orthodoxy, such as her belief that transgender women should be kept out of women’s sports. “There are physical advantages to men’s bodies in general,” she writes.
Elsewhere in the book, it is clear that Mrs. Trump viewed the most tumultuous moments of the Trump presidency from a privileged position.
She blamed “inflammatory rhetoric from Black Lives Matter leaders” for the protests and riots that erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. There is. (She does not mention Mr. Floyd by name, referring to him as “a black resident of Minneapolis.”)
She recalled witnessing unruly protests outside the White House in May 2020 and then spent hours deep underground with her husband, saying, “Many distressed protesters… “I never expected to have to use an underground bunker to evacuate from the said his work phone was permanently disabled.
She explained why she did not condemn the violence on January 6th.
For every moment in which Mrs. Trump appears to be distancing herself from her husband, there are also moments in which she aligns herself with his beliefs. The 2020 election is no exception.
Her husband has spent years decrying her loss to President Biden, falsely claiming as recently as this week that the process was rigged.
In her book, Mrs. Trump puts the same beliefs into softer focus by questioning why it took so long for the election results to be determined.
“You can’t keep counting votes for days on end. That’s what they did,” Mrs. Trump wrote, ignoring the reality of how this country is counting millions of ballots. are. “It was a mess. Many Americans still have questions about this election. I’m not the only one who has doubts about the outcome.”
Even the parts of her book that are meant to showcase her accomplishments are clouded by post-election anxiety, largely caused by her husband.
Mrs. Trump spoke at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, as her husband’s supporters detailed her years-long efforts to restore the White House room, one of the most important contributions she made as first lady. He wrote that he was busy considering repairs at the time of the attack.
She writes that her press secretary at the time (Anonymous Stephanie Grisham) refused to condemn the violence because she did not give her the full details of what was happening. “My team was already behind schedule and focused on its mission,” Mrs. Trump wrote.
The attack on her son Barron spurred her ‘Be Best’ campaign.
Immediately after the 2016 election, comedian Rosie O’Donnell, one of the new president’s most vocal critics, took to social media to address speculation that President Trump’s youngest son and Mrs. Trump’s only child, Barron, was autistic. Posted. He was 10 years old at the time.
A hailstorm ensued on social media, prompting Ms O’Donnell to apologize. Mrs. Trump says in her book that Barron is not autistic, and the episode led her to center her child-focused initiative Be Best on issues of child welfare and online bullying. It is written that it has become.
When she convened leaders at the White House to discuss child safety online in March 2018, she said she was “surprised by the resistance from tech executives at Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Snapchat.” ” he wrote with foresight. Eight years later, social media platforms still struggle to implement tools to protect children.
And Mrs. Trump remains furious with Mr. O’Donnell.
“Mr. Barron’s experiences with online and real-life bullying since the incident clearly demonstrate that irreparable damage has been caused,” she wrote. “No amount of apology can undo the damage done to him.”
She describes the jacket and hand swat (sort of).
There are two episodes during Mrs. Trump’s tenure as first lady that were so shocking and disconcerting that they can be abbreviated. That was in June 2018, when she wore a jacket that said, “I’m a real don.” I don’t care though? ” During a trip to visit immigrant children in Texas.
And then there was the swat when she slapped her husband’s hand away from her during a trip to Israel in 2017.
She writes in her book that she brushed his hand away because he was walking in front of her with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. “The red carpet could not accommodate the four of us side by side,” she wrote. “It was a small, innocent act and nothing more.”
She has more to say about the events leading up to her decision to wear the jacket. She blames then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, not her husband, for overseeing the family separation policy in which thousands of immigrant children were separated from their parents at the southern border.
Mrs. Trump remembers reading everything she could about separation before approaching her husband and lobbying him in private.
“The government should not separate children from their parents,” she reportedly told him. “This has to stop.” He promised her he would look into the matter, and shortly thereafter signed an executive order ending the separation.
She said her decision to wear the jacket was to get back at “biased reporting” and “negative content” in the news media.
Throughout the book, which moves back and forth in time and place, one constant is Mrs. Trump’s resentment toward the news media. This was established during a 2016 campaign when journalists reported on her past work as a nude model. She sued a writer who suggested without evidence that she once worked as an escort.
“We live in dangerous times for journalism,” Mrs. Trump wrote.
She talks about her marriage but omits the scandal.
If you read this book, you’ll understand that the Trumps love Elton John. They will learn that Mrs. Trump doted on her husband and urged him to go to the hospital when he contracted the coronavirus. They will learn that the Trumps have been exchanging letters with King Charles III as part of what Mrs. Trump says is a friendly relationship.
They also gave her husband an up-close look at some of the most consequential moments of his presidency, like when Mrs. Trump invited her into the Situation Room to oversee a military raid on ISIS leader Abu. You will also learn that I was sometimes invited to. Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“Watch this incredible action in action,” he told her as he watched the surgery unfold on screen.
Readers can no longer understand how Mrs. Trump felt in 2018 when it was reported that her husband paid a porn star to keep quiet about an affair that occurred shortly after Barron was born. Probably. (She was furious.) Shortly before the 2016 election, audio of Mrs. Trump’s husband’s appearance on “Access Hollywood” was leaked, revealing him bragging about grabbing women’s genitals. There is no mention of the episode that occurred. (She wasn’t very happy then either.)
Instead, readers will come to understand, in succession throughout the book, that Mrs. Trump sees herself as the victim of an attack by powerful forces seeking to oust her husband. It all feels nostalgic.
Her memoir, wrapped in a matte black cover, has a single blurb on the back from an enthusiastic book reviewer. “First Lady Melania Trump’s commitment to excellence begins with her family,” wrote former President Donald J. Trump. ”
