Tag: Thrilled

In the roughly ten months since her husband took office, it seems that no one has been subject to more palace intrigue than First Lady Melania Trump. Whether she’s swatting her husband’s hand away, launching an anti-cyberbullying initiative while the President blasts members of his own party on Twitter, or inspiring conspiracy theories about a supposed body double that stands in her place, there’s been plenty of fodder for those who love speculating about the First Lady’s life. And now, according to a new report from Vanity Fair, there’s more fuel to add to the “Melania doesn’t like being First Lady” fire—and several sources close to the Trumps have revealed that she isn’t particularly keen on her new life.

As VF‘s Sarah Ellison reports, it was Melania who pushed Donald to run in 2016 after he had toyed with the idea in 2012. But this didn’t stem from any real desire for her husband to enter politics; rather, it was born more from her frustration with his back and forth about a presidential bid. And as Ellison puts it, “there may never have been a First Lady less prepared for or suited to the role.

“This isn’t something she wanted and it isn’t something he ever thought he’d win,” a longtime friend of the family told the magazine. “She didn’t want this come hell or high water. I don’t think she thought it was going to happen.”

And now that Melania has inherited the East Wing of the White House—where the First Lady and her staff members are customarily based—her less-than-enthusiastic view of the role is apparent. She has just nine staffers—half the number of employees that both Michelle Obama and Laura Bush had. During the transition between Barack Obama and Donald Trump, East Wing workers “had very little to do.” And Melania and her son Barron didn’t actually move into the White House until June of this year—making her the first First Lady in the country’s history to put off moving down to Washington.

Those close to Melania, however, say that she’s “slowly warming to the job” and CNN’s Kate Bennett recently told The Daily Front Row that, despite seeming quiet and reserved, the First Lady “connects well and seems to come alive in a joyful way” whenever she spends time with children.

Still, there’s plenty of chatter surrounding Melania’s relationship with her husband. Per VF, Melania’s friends are “divided” when it comes to her feelings toward her husband—with the infamous hand swatting and her apparent discomfort while dancing with him at the inaugural balls not reflecting too favorably on their relationship as a whole. As one pal put it, it’s “old news” that Melania and Donald basically live separate lives.

But others have refuted these assertions. As one of the President’s oldest friends put it, “The one who has the most control over Donald is Melania, 100 percent…He listens to her and adores her.”

As for what the First Lady herself thinks of all this, she’s remained characteristically silent; both she and her press secretary declined to be interviewed by Vanity Fair.

Source link