To many people, Melania Trump is somewhat of an enigma. The Slovenian-American former model seemed to ascend to the White House as a rather reluctant First Lady in 2016, and is now set to return to her role in 2025.
With a steely expression and intense (often sunglass-shielded) eyes, the inner workings of Melania Trump’s mind have always been a mystery. Until now.
Trump’s self-titled memoir, Melania, has now landed in the UK, giving Britons the chance to take a peek inside the former, and future, First Lady’s brain.
From her fierce protective streak over her son, Barron Trump — who you may know for being astoundingly tall — to her stance on abortion rights, here are some of the biggest bombshells from Melania’s memoir.
1. She’s actually pro-choice
Donald Trump’s stance on abortion is generally quite conservative, with him calling the decision to overturn Roe V. Wade and the ensuing tightening of abortion restrictions across multiple states “a beautiful thing to watch.”
But in her book, Melania makes it clear that she doesn’t agree with such measures. "It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government," the book reads.
“A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
Both Melania and Donald Trump have received backlash against these comments from the prominent anti-abortion side of Trump’s fanbase. The former president defended his wife’s comments on Fox News last week, saying: “We spoke about it. And I said, you have to write what you believe.”
2. Melania Trump details her experience of the assassination attempt
Melania tends to stay away from the campaign trail, save for major events, which means she wasn’t present for the assassination attempt upon Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania this July.
Watching on television from Bedminster, New Jersey, she recalls: “I watched the chaos unfold: the gunfire, Donald instinctively reaching up to his head, and the immediate response of Secret Service agents shielding him.”
After “what felt like an eternity”, she says she finally spoke to her husband, whose survival she calls “nothing short of a miracle.”
She remembers being most worried for her son, who was also watching on television. “Each time we saw Donald’s bloodied face, I had to remind myself that I had actually just spoken to him," Trump writes.
3. She says suggestions Barron Trump has autism were ‘cruel’
When comedian Rosie O’Donnell posted a video of Barron Trump and claimed that he had autism, she probably didn’t expect it to make it all the way to Barron Trump himself, or his very protective mother, Melania Trump.
But they did, and Melania was “furious.” She writes: “I knew the tweet and video would go viral and I knew how much it would hurt him," she writes. “I was appalled by such cruelty. It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.”
She says that Barron has not been diagnosed with autism, but that if he had been, “there is nothing shameful about autism.”
4. Melania doesn’t like being called a ‘gold digger’
Melania Trump denies the claim that she only married Donald Trump, who is 24 years her senior, for his money. Speaking fiercely, but also in semi-legalese, she calls these claims “baseless accusations” and notes her and Trump’s shared fondness for Elvis and Elton John.
When describing her first meeting with Donald Trump, she writes: “From the moment our conversation began, I was captivated by his charm and easygoing nature.
When Trump asked for her phone number she declined, asking the business mogul to give her his contact details instead.
According to the book, she called him a few days later, before the pair went on their first official date at Trump’s Seven Springs property in Bedford, New York.
5. She claims she didn’t denounce the Capitol attacks because she didn’t know what was going on
While Melania Trump seems pretty solid on certain beliefs and opinions — such as her view that the 2020 election votes should have been recounted — she is notably shaky on others.
On January 6, 2021, her version of events is considerably sparse. This was the day of the Capitol siege, which Melania did not denounce at the time because she was “not aware of the events unfolding.”
“Had I been fully informed of all the details, naturally, I would have immediately denounced the violence that occurred at the Capitol Building,” she writes.
6. She absolutely loves King Charles
It turns out Melania Trump is a huge fan of King Charles, who she claims she was once pen pals with during her first term as First Lady.
She reveals that she and the King bonded back in 2019 at a state banquet where she was sat next to him, describing it as "an absolute pleasure to reconnect with him.”
"Our paths had crossed many years ago in New York City,” she writes. “This time we engaged in an interesting conversation about his deep-rooted commitment to environmental conservation.” During his time in office, Melania’s husband’s administration rolled back more than 100 environmental policies.
