Melania Trump Will Probably Be a Part-Time First Lady if Donald Trump Wins 2024 Election
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Melania Trump has been part-time campaigning for Donald Trump in his third run for president, and it sounds like she will keep that part-time positioning if her husband wins a second term in office. She’s reportedly not interested in the White House taking her full attention.
“She’s distancing herself even more from her husband and from the Washington social-political scene,” said Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies told Axios, “I mean, she clearly hated being in Washington.” Brower told SheKnows something similar last August about her thoughts on Melania’s time in Washington, D.C. “I always felt that she didn’t want to be the first lady and she was unapologetic about it,” Brower explained. “She wasn’t interested in doing what we expected of her.” Instead of unifying the country, which a first lady often does, her controversial Christmas tree decor and her “I really don’t care. Do U?” jacket riled up her critics even more.
The Washington Post associate editor Mary Jordan doesn’t think Melania will be swayed to do more in the White House if Donald Trump wins the election. “Melania does what Melania wants,” she told Axios. “Her view is unelected, not paid.” Instead, she believes that the former first lady will hire a “better” and “more qualified” group of people to lead her staff this time around. “Now having seen how this works, she would just be wiser, and she would be more vocal and more demanding about what the first lady’s office should get,” Jordan added.
Brower told SheKnows that Melania “lowered the bar” during Donald Trump’s administration and she didn’t expect much from her in 2024. “We don’t expect to see or hear from her. If we do, it’s surprising,” she added. Donald Trump would argue that his wife loves politics, but a source for The Times revealed her time at the White House wasn’t pleasant. “When you look back, Melania was betrayed by her staff,” the insider noted of the memoirs written by her former staff members, including Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s Melania and Me. She tried to become a part of the Washington, D.C. socialite circles but was “burnt” by everyone. “She tried but was attacked — everything, her shoes, her hair,” the source said. “The microscope is so intense. The sunglasses she wears all the time are her shield.”
In reality, Melania would prefer to stay in her Mar-a-Lago bubble for good. “Nowadays she is less in view except under very controlled circumstances,” the Trump insider summed up. “She has dinner at Mar-a-Lago but doesn’t mingle and hobnob with people like he does. It’s a safe zone for him. She doesn’t view it as a safe zone.”
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