Donald Trump and Melania Trump had their fair share of arguments at the White House. The infamous jacket incident was one, but there were many others. However, now that they are behind them, the former president and first lady aim to secure a second term at the White House.
Melania Trump spent much time shielding their son, Barron, from media scrutiny while living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Meanwhile, she performed her duties as First Lady of the United States, and time will tell if she will return to Washington.
In 2018, the Trump Administration was left in shock as allegations against Donald Trump and the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels went public. The president said he was innocent, but that didn’t stop Melania Trump from making her mind up. In a new book, it’s been revealed that Melania didn’t want anything to do with her husband at the time – and wanted to humiliate him.
Melania and Donald Trump met for the first time during New York Fashion Show in 1998. Not long after, he began planning his future life as possible President of the United States. But Melania Trump had yet to learn where her life would take her with her then-future husband.
Donald Trump & Melania Trump
In 1998, Donald Trump had just divorced his second wife, Marla Maples, and appeared at an event in New York City with a date. However, when the wealthy real-estate mogul saw Melania, he wanted to be with her instead.
“I went crazy. I was actually supposed to meet somebody else. There was this great supermodel sitting next to Melania,” Donald Trump told Larry King in 2005. “They said, ‘Look, there’s so and so.’ I said, ‘Forget about her. Who is the one on the left? And it was Melania.”
But when they first met, Melania was not interested at all.
Since Trump was there with someone else and asked her for her phone number, she admitted being “turned off” and said he was “totally out of the question,” her best friend Edit Molnar said.
“Melania said, ‘He’s here with a woman. I am absolutely not giving him my number,’” Molnar recalled. “She wouldn’t even consider it. Donald did all the work.”
“He wanted my number,” Melania Trump told Tatler. “But he was on a date, so of course I didn’t give it to him. I said, ‘I am not giving you my number; give me yours and I will call you.’ If I give him my number, I’m just one of the women he calls.”
Eventually, Donald and Melania started a relationship. According to Molnar, Melania quickly changed her style, but their relationship was initially rocky. The two broke up several times before patching things up and moving together in 2001. Melania got her green card around the same time and lived at Trump’s penthouse in the Trump Tower in Manhattan.
Three years later, the couple got married in Florida. In 2006, they welcomed their son, Barron.
“I’m not going to be doing the diapers”
Melania was the one closest to Barron as he grew up. Donald worked a lot and explained to Larry King in 2005 that he was a hands-off parent.
“I’m not going to be doing the diapers,” Trump said. “I’m not going to be making the food, I may never even see the kids.”
Speaking with CNN’s Larry King in 1999, Donald announced he planned to run for president. He also said he would marry Melania Trump to “make up for the absence of a First Lady.”
Melania added that she’d be a traditional First Lady, comparing herself to Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy.
Donald Trump’s plan became a reality when he won the 2016 Presidential Election. His time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would be a rocky road. As with many presidential coupes, when Donald and Melania had left office, stories about what had happened during their 4-year tenure at the White House came to light.
While at the White House, Melania Trump did her ‘duties’ as First Lady of the United States. However, compared to other first ladies before her, she didn’t move into the White House with her husband immediately.
When Donald Trump was elected president, Melania decided that she and Barron would stay in New York City for about six months so he could finish up his school year.
“It’s Melania who wants to stay. She doesn’t want to take Barron out of school,” an unnamed source told the New York Daily News. “She’s concerned that he won’t have the same relationship with new teachers that he has at Columbia Prep.”
Melania Trump protected Barron from media scrutiny
When finished with school in “The Big Apple,” Barron and Melania headed for the White House. Barron became the first boy to live in the White House since JFK Jr.
Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton – the three most recent presidents – have been fathers to only girls. Other presidents since JFK have had sons, though they’ve all been adults and lived outside of the White House.
Barron Trump attended the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, a private school about 30 minutes away from the White House.
Throughout their time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Melania Trump wanted to protect her son from scrutiny, especially since being the president’s son can be demanding.
In early 2017, The White House called for the media’s cooperation, asking them to give Barron Trump privacy.
“It is a longstanding tradition that the children of Presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight. The White House fully expects this tradition to continue. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter,” the White House said.
Being the son of the president means having your every move tracked. That’s why Melania Trump did not let Barron issue his own statements. Instead, all communication went through Melania and her office of communications.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump’s tenure at the White House lasted one term. Time will tell if they return to Washington again, as the former president is running for president in November.
Melania Trump – infamous jacket incident
While they had some excellent days as POTUS and FLOTUS, Donald and Melania Trump also had some bad ones. When they left the White House, several stories about them confronting each other while at the White House were laid out in the media. One of the most known ones is the infamous jacket incident.
In her new book I’ll Take Your Questions Now, Stephanie Grisham revealed several details about Donald Trump’s tenure at the White House — and it doesn’t all make for pleasant reading if you’re a Trump fan.
Grisham recalled one specific moment when Trump went mad at his wife – and then-First Lady – Melania Trump.
On her way to a migrant housing facility in Texas, Melania wore a jacket with the text “‘ I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?’
Grisham – who also worked in the First Lady’s office – writes that she didn’t notice the message on Melania’s jacket. At the time, Trump and his administration were under heavy criticism because of their policy of separating migrant children from their family members.
Melania’s visit was an excellent opportunity for the administration to form a better image on the issue. In the end, they abandoned the program.
When Melania came back from Texas, the President was furious.
Donald Trump – Stormy Daniels
Donald Trump is said to have summoned his wife to the Oval Office and yelled at her over the wearing of the tasteless jacket.
“He yelled and asked ‘what the [expletive]’ they thought they were doing,” Grisham wrote in her memoir, as reported by The Washington Post.
Melania Trump later spoke about the jacket in an interview with CNN.
“It’s obvious I didn’t wear the jacket for the children,” she said. “I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane. And it was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me.”
While Donald Trump and Melania Trump handed their duties in Washington, the president’s past also caught up with him. And according to a new book, Melania wanted to take full advantage of it by humiliating her husband.
In January 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump had arranged a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels – whose real name is Stephanie Clifford – in October 2016 in order to prevent her from discussing a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006.
Of course, it was a big scandal. However, Trump consistently denied having an affair with Daniels. Meanwhile, in February 2018, Michael Cohen, a former private lawyer for Donald Trump, said he had indeed paid Daniels but used his own money and, therefore, Trump’s company or campaign money had nothing to do with it.
Melania Trump wanted to ‘humiliate’ her husband after Stormy Daniels scandal, former aide claims
Cohen later contradicted both statements under oath. Moreover, he stated that Donald Trump directed him to make the payment.
Melania Trump has been through plenty in the latest year. Her husband has been involved in many trials and still is. However, she hasn’t been at his side in the courtroom.
When the allegations against Donald Trump and the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels went public in 2018, it’s safe to say that Melania wasn’t happy about them.
In her book American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers writes that Melania refused to join her husband on a trip abroad and instead traveled to Mar-a-Lago without him.
“[FLOTUS press secretary Stephanie] Grisham, who traveled with her on that jaunt, said that the first lady had wanted to communicate her anger to the president,” Rogers writes, as reported by People Magazine.
Further, Grisham told Rogers that Melania “was pissed at Trump and wanted him to be a little humiliated that she took off.”
While Melania supports her husband in becoming president again, she has not been seen on the campaign trail next to him. Meanwhile, First Lady Jill Biden has been by her husband, President Joe Biden, and taken on an important role before the election.
Donald Trump reveals reason for Melania’s absence
What Melania is doing is on the minds of many people, not least Trump voters. Therefore, during a recent town hall meeting, Fox News Host Laura Ingraham asked Donald Trump if Melania would join him at his rallies.
“It’s a question I’m asked a lot, that Jill Biden is everywhere,” Ingraham said. “She’s campaigning everywhere for Joe Biden and she did in 2020.”
She continued, “Will we see more of your secret weapon, for those of us who know your wife, Melania? Will we see more of her this time around, given her ability to speak so many languages… [she’s] so wonderful with children and everyone? I think a lot of people here want to see more of her.”
Donald Trump didn’t take long to answer, which was somewhat expected. Right now, her dedication lies with their son, Barron.
“They love her, I’ll tell you,” Trump responded. “And you know her. She’s a very brilliant person. She speaks many languages, the whole thing.”
“Her life revolves around that boy, [he’s] so important to her. At the same time, it also revolves around our country and the success of our country. She’s raised a lot of money for charity.”
The former president continued, “She’s a private person. It’s funny; she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot, not because she likes doing it, but she likes the result. She wants to see this country really succeed.”
“[The people] love the fact that she’s not out there so much. You know, a lot of first ladies will go out. They want to be everywhere. They get angry at their husband because he’s not introducing them. If I didn’t introduce Melania she’d be very happy about it. She’s just a different kind of a person. And she loves the country.”
Donald Trump concluded, “She’s gonna be out quite a bit, and she loves his country, and she wants a great, and she says hello.”
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