Melania Trump’s disinterest in public political life is deep enough that she has even told several friends that she not only seeks to reinforce her husband’s inflated political ambitions, but has no desire for redux in the White House, according to several people. who spoke to CNN about his mindset. “Being a first lady again is not what you want,” said one of the people, who had a close relationship with Trump during his tenure in the White House. “For her, it was a chapter, and it’s over, and that’s it.”
She considers the continued impact of her husband on the landscape of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be her job, not hers. “You won’t see her at rallies or campaign events, even if she ‘officially’ says she’s running again,” said another person aware of the disinterest Trump has shown in supporting the former president. “Instead, it will be Lara (Trump, the wife of Trump’s son, Eric) or (Kimberly) Guilfoyle (the girlfriend of Trump’s eldest son, Don). They have the same desire that Trump should (run) again; Melania does absolutely no. ”
Melania Trump’s office did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
That Trump is not a presence on the campaign trail (if any) is not uncommon, given his career as a reluctant political spouse. While most presidential candidates storm their partners, or are asked to do so alone, often relying on them to approach female voters, the idea of facing a constituency “was never their thing.” , said the person who was close to her during the White House years. Appearances on the track in 2016 were scarce, at best.
In fact, the answer “no” was so often given when the staff of then-candidate Donald Trump asked Trump to appear at events that ultimately “we just stopped asking at all,” said one political agent who he worked on the Trump team in the early days. Remarkably tired of public scrutiny and press coverage, Trump participated in less than five on-camera interviews and no written press interviews when she was first lady, an unprecedented shortage.
Melania says “Hello”
The absence of Melania Trump alongside her husband in the handful of rallies and speeches she has made since she left office, mostly to talk about a chosen Republican candidate or to defeat those who have opposed her, while he repeated myths that he unjustly lost the presidential election. – It is not something that his supporters think.
“The fact is that his base got used to not having him there,” said a political agent who worked for a time with then-President Trump. And his followers didn’t care either. “Instead, he brought out this idea that not being there was good. They defend themselves so it’s not there. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it,” the operative added.
While Laura Bush was a fundraising campaign and appealing to women, and Michelle Obama was so adept at speaking on behalf of her husband that she was nicknamed “the closer,” Trump is so good at not being -which has normalized the peculiarity of her absence.
“Trump’s voter puts (Melania Trump) on a pedestal. They’re impressed with his way of seeing or the way he basically doesn’t express ideas or opinions, which they see as stoicism and loyalty. For them, that’s enough for fidelity, ”the operative said. The person who worked with Trump during the White House years noted the grueling schedule of a campaign and the hours spent in the sands, while her husband delivered long speeches of concentration. “If you couldn’t do all this and people would agree with that, why wouldn’t you?” said this person.
In 90-minute comments at the February Conservative Political Action Conference, the former president basically passed on greetings and said to Melania, “(who) says, ‘Hello,’ I love you as much as I love you. ‘ . The audience cheered. In June, at a North Carolina rally, Trump again acted as a substitute, nodding to his wife’s absence when he described the escalator trip to the Trump Tower years ago when he announced his candidacy. “Much like I said that beautiful morning when I came with our future first lady at the time, Melania,” he added, “who sends her greetings.”
Life, without interruptions
Trump’s life is still private, more so than it could be because of the nature of his role in Washington. “That’s how he likes it. The more he can be private and not in public view, the better,” said another person who has known Trump socially for more than a decade. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, if every person in the world watched all your movements for four or five years and that wasn’t comfortable for you, imagine the trigger.”
Since then, the account has been a series of setbacks and thanks, with no announcements of goals of initiatives, policies, charity events, speeches, or ongoing public appearances.