Topline
Former First Lady Melania Trump warned against “assumptions” made in unspecified news reports in a vague tweet on Tuesday, a curious public response just a week after former President Donald Trump was indicted.
Former US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, leave a polling station after voting … [+]
Key Facts
Melania Trump’s team asked “readers to exercise caution and good judgment” when reading news articles about the former first lady, her official office tweeted on Tuesday in a post reshared by her official personal Twitter account.
The tweets, which do not specify which news reports she is referring to, follow a series of tabloid reports that suggest she is unhappy with her husband’s political appearances and angry about his indictment in Manhattan criminal court—which centers on allegations that he orchestrated pay-offs to squash stories about three affairs he allegedly had early in their marriage.
Melania is “uncomfortable” with Trump’s third run for the presidency and would prefer to retreat to private life, People magazine reported Monday, citing a source who said “she simply wants to be left alone.”
The outlet previously reported that Melania is “angry” at Trump over the affair allegations and prefers to stay insulated from the outside world at Mar-A-Lago, where she is surrounded by Trump sympathizers who refrain from discussing the alleged hush-money payment.
Page Six also reported Monday that Melania Trump has agreed to campaign with her husband after he had a “major talk” with her over the weekend and pleaded for her public support.
Melania’s Tuesday tweet marks her most substantial public comments since Trump was indicted on March 30 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the hush-money payments Manhattan prosecutors said he arranged (Trump pleaded not guilty and has denied each of the three affair allegations).
Crucial Quote
“News organizations have made assumptions about the former First Lady’s stance on subjects that are personal, professional, and political over the past few weeks,” The Office of Melania Trump tweeted. “In these articles, unnamed sources are cited to bolster the author’s claims.”
Key Background
Melania Trump has largely remained shielded from the public eye since her husband exited the White House in 2019. While she appeared alongside him as he announced his third run for the presidency from Mar-A-Lago in November, and is regularly spotted at dinners and events with her husband at the couple’s Palm Beach home, she was notably absent from his post-arraignment speech at the club last week. Trump, while issuing a broad rebuke of the 34-count indictment, thanked each of his five children in the speech, but did not mention Melania. On Sunday, she was pictured sitting at a roped-off table at Mar-A-Lago with her husband during Easter brunch and tweeted “Happy Easter!” to her 2.2 million followers, paired with a photo of a pink rose.
Tangent
Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., have remained actively involved in their father’s political activities and have echoed his claims that the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against him is politically motivated in a series of comments on social media and in television appearances. His daughter Ivanka Trump, who served as an advisor to her father during his time in the White House, has opted to refrain from teaming with Trump as he wages his third run for the presidency, however. She said she is instead “choosing to prioritize [her] young children and the private life [they] are creating as a family,” she wrote on Instagram following his campaign announcement. In her first comments since his historic arraignment last week, Ivanka Trump expressed support for her father and said she was “pained” for both him and her country in the wake of the criminal charges.
Further Reading
Ivanka Trump ‘Pained’ For Her Father And Country (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/04/11/melania-trump-issues-cryptic-first-statement-after-trumps-indictment/