Melania Trump: Influenced private, but publicly absent

Melania Trump: Influenced private, but publicly absent

Melania Trump could not be seen in the White House for over a month. But when her husband prepared for an important summit in Alaska with his Russian counterpart to obtain the end of the war in Ukraine, first lady practiced diplomacy.

A letter to President Putin

"Dear President Putin", she began her direct appeal to the Russian President. "Every child has the same quiet dreams in his heart, regardless of whether it was born in the rural idyll of a country or in a magnificent city. They dream of love, opportunities and security."

As observers of the first lady report, this letter underscores the low-profile but influential role she will play in the second term of Donald Trump Play even if she is not physically present in Washington.

Public appearances and communication

It is rarely public to be seen. She did not accompany her husband when he brought her letter to President Vladimir Putin during the summit in Anchorage, and was also not in the White House when he received the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj and other European leaders days later. During this term, she has only made 19 public appearances, compared to 40 appearances at the same time in her previous term. This time your team in the east wing is only a fraction of the team from their first term and that of their predecessors.

However, Donald Trump is in frequent contact with his wife, often by text message or phone call during the day, as sources report. Just like her husband, the First Lady consumes a variety of news reports. According to Donald Trump, Melania Trump has expressed healthy skepticism about the previous conversations with Putin.

An influence behind the scenes

In her letter to Putin, Trump indirectly referred to the "darkness" that is burdened by the children affected by the war and told the Russian leader that he had the power to "restore her melodic laugh alone". Although it did not mention Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian children have been reported since the beginning of the war has been kidnapped.

While the recent comments by the President on Melania's strong reactions to developments in the war on social media in Russia were criticized, they also inspire "Agent Melania Trumpenko" memes in Ukraine. After her letter to Putin, Selenskyj Donald Trump brought a letter to his wife to the first lady in the USA.

The focus of the safety of children in the focus

Although Melania Trump has not taken a public position on the conflicts in Ukraine or Gaza, her reactions, as described by the President, have offered a certain reality check in relation to the wars he promised to end but has so far failed. "She thinks it's terrible," said Donald Trump last week about the pictures from Gaza that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied.

"She sees the same pictures she see that we all see. And I think everyone, unless he is pretty heartless - or worse, crazy - can't say anything else than it is terrible when you see the children." The connecting element was the threats to children.

"Ms. Trump consistently focused on the security of children and their future," said Anita Mcbride, former chief of staff of First Lady Laura Bush. Melania Trump also wrote her letter to Putin from her unique perspective: she was born in 1970 in the then communist Yugoslavia.

The role of the first lady in focus

"It brings an additional credibility because it grew up in a Europe that was under the influence of Russian aggression before successfully gaining her country's freedom," added McBride. Her commitment is not without precedent: McBride noticed that Nancy Reagan was looking for peace in direct contact with the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and wrote a letter to the wife of Gorbachev in front of a key meeting. Jackie Kennedy wrote to the Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev and expressed hope for peace after the death of her husband. Laura Bush warned reporters in the briefing room of the White House and criticized the regime in Myanmar after a fatal cyclone.

"First ladies have a unique moral authority. ... I praise Ms. Trump that she uses her platform for important topics in this way - especially in this decisive moment in world history," said McBride.

A different approach to the public role

Topics about children have also motivated Trump’s limited commitment to domestic politics - from the support of laws against Deepfake and revenge pornography Up to an investment of $ 25 million for foster children who claims the White House, accepted it in the President's budget. This interest has also determined where it performs the public role of First Lady. Last month, she comforted young girls who were affected by devastating floods in Texas Hill Country, where she was given a friendship bracelet and prayed with the participants.

"She really takes care of tragedies and things that affect children. I believe in her authenticity when she is committed," says Kate Bennett, a former CNN journalist who reported first lady and is an author of "Free, Melania".

Nevertheless, Trump selectively uses her extensive platform - this represents a deviation from most of her predecessors.

A planned path forward?

An important part of this selection was their relative absence from Washington during this term. Trump spends her time between New York and Palm Beach, with weeks of intervals between her visits in the capital. Her last known appearance in the White House was on July 11th when she flogged with the president for a trip to Texas.

During her husband's first term, she only announced her full -time residency in the White House in June 2017. This year, since son Barron studies at New York University, her presence in Washington is far less regular.

With more than a dozen public events, she stood alongside her husband, accompanied him on tours after extreme weather events and carried out three own events. But she was seen less in public than on half the days when she was in the same period in her husband's first term, where she took part in several Oval Office meetings and press conferences with world leaders and traveled to seven countries.

It also exuberanted types of symbolic moments that are traditionally visited by its predecessors, such as unveiling a flagpole and planting a magnolia on the white house site. Your husband even has that renovation a newly designed, paved Rose garden monitored and the west wing has unilateral plans for one $ 200 million expansion of the east wing ballroom announced that influence becomes the first lady's office area.

"I don't think it is anything interpersonal," the source told CNN and added: "It is simple - it has no interest" in the finesse of the role.

The protection of your reputation

In the past few weeks she has made considerable efforts to protect her reputation and legal steps to threaten against those who have tried to link her to Jeffrey Epstein and to seek retraction and Excuse me to earn from the Daily Beast.

In Washington, she only employed a reduced staff compared to her team from the first term. The first lady had five full -time employees until July 1, according to one report, whose salaries together were $ 634,200 a year. A key role that the social secretary of the White House, who plans and coordinates all official and personal social events in the White House, remains vacant.

A similar report, which was presented on July 1, 2024, reflected more than 20 employees who work in Jill Biden's offices with salaries of almost $ 2.5 million a year. Michelle Obama had 12 full -time employees in July 2016.

The way to the future

In a rare interview with Fox News before her husband's return to office, Melania Trump said that she did not want to "plunge into" to get married and make sure that her employees "serve me", not their own agenda - perhaps an indication that they are important after the resignation after the attack on the US capitol on January 6, 2021. This caution could trigger public betrayal by former employees, including Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former close girlfriend and consultant, as well as the resignation of the then chief of staff Stephanie Grisham. Grisham was on January 6th interviewed.

Despite the limited cooperation, Trump has not yet presented any new political goals or expanded her “BE Best” campaign from the first term. She has not participated in a solo foreign or domestic trip and has not announced any official state visits to the White House.

Nevertheless, their last - albeit indirect - comments on two insoluble conflicts have given information on their influence. "When she speaks, people listen - whether it is because it happens so rarely, I'm not sure, but it definitely has a platform. It should use it," said the source.