Today will mark the 25th day since we’ve seen Melania Trump in public. A handful of people swear up and down that Melania returned to the White House after staying at Walter Reed for six days, and they swear she’s been around the WH ever since. Other people theorize that she’s in New York, or maybe Florida, or maybe in some undisclosed location, possibly healing from plastic surgery. Melania made sure not to go to Camp David this past weekend with her husband and the Family Bigly, possibly because she knew it was going to be a trainwreck. But interestingly enough, Ol’ Mel is planning on attending a White House ceremony today?
First lady Melania Trump will return to the public eye Monday, co-hosting an event with President Donald Trump for Gold Star families. The first lady’s appearance at the 5:30 p.m. reception will be her first in an official event since she joined President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence in greeting three Americans formerly imprisoned in North Korea in the early morning hours of May 10. Four days later, it was announced that she was hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Center to treat a “benign kidney condition.” She was released from the hospital five days later.
A ceremony for Gold Star families? I’m guessing the Khans won’t be invited. I’m also guessing Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Sgt La David Johnson, won’t be invited after the White House publicly shamed her for telling the press that Trump didn’t even know her husband’s name. Sorry, this was supposed to be about Melania. It will be interesting to see if she turns up! Because her office also announced yesterday that Melania will NOT be traveling overseas with Trump during his upcoming trips:
First lady Melania Trump will not be joining President Donald Trump on his upcoming trips to the G7 summit in Quebec and the highly anticipated summit between the United States and North Korea in Singapore, her spokeswoman told ABC News.
While I never thought the Trumps had a good marriage by any stretch of the imagination, this just shows that Melania really wants no part of this family anymore. Be Best, Mel. And find a way to escape to Robert Mueller’s office with a suitcase full of evidence.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.
It was just announced that this event is closed to the press.
That kind of seems like a suspicious way to cover up the fact that she won’t be there. No pictures or interviews, no proof she’s there
Alas, the body double, complete with rubber nose, was unavailable.
http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/10/fake-melania-body-double-appears-on-tv-with-trump.html
If it’s closed to the press – it’s not going to be Melania. Maybe her body double will make a brief non-speaking appearance so participants can claim to have seen her.
I hope she is actually still in NYC, far far away from the increasingly unstable Donald.
Does anyone think that perhaps Melania turned herself in to Robert Mueller?
Maybe she’s spilling all she knows in exchange for freedom & sole custody of Barron?
Why NOW? I understand the stories about the mistresses were embarrassing, but why did she disappear on May 10? Did someone show her the pee pee tape? Remember Trump was actually worried about that? After all the shit he has done, why is he afraid of her believing in the pee pee tape? What does she know that we don’t?
Sorry guys. I know she’s complicit garbage and she signed up to be married to that loon…but I still feel sorry for her. Imagine not even being able to leave the husband you clearly loathe. No amount of money is worth that prison- and I suspect she’s feeling that way too but she’s already trapped in it.
no need to, she doesn’t feel sorry for herself so why should you? she is exactly where she wants to be – donald trump’s wife. the only thing i could imagine that she did not sign up for is to be first lady. no matter how obtuse, racist, self-absorbed, and delusional she may be, there is no way does she believe she measures up to any of the recent holders of that position, especially the last one. don’t forget melanie herself went on tv to malign barack and michele, regardless of their children, their worth, their station, or the truth. we must stop projecting, especially on white women of this ilk (who are the least deserving as they have always held up white supremacy with a wink and a smile).
exactly, she’s just a birther in a bad wig, people need to stop projecting their feelings about trump onto her
She is a rich woman married to the most powerful man in the world. She can do anything she wants. She chooses to stay. She chooses to be complicit.
She is not trapped. She is choosing to stay. Noone is holding a gun to her head.
Yeah people said the same thing to me when I was married to an abuser.
The lack of compassion from you and others in this comment chain is revolting.
PTS, Melania isn’t you, please stop projecting onto her. She doesn’t want your compassion, she is a filthy racist, and just as much a grifter as the rest of them. Why do people insist on infantilizing this woman? I will never understand.
I have sympathy and compassion for you and anyone in an abusive relationship. I’ve been there as well. But unless a person is saying that they are a victim, I’m not going to label them so. She said publicly, do not pity me. I’ll take her at her word that she’s where she wants to be.
@PoliteTeaSipper: I agree with you.
Trump is verbally abusive; that’s obvious. He’s also been accused of domestic abuse and spousal rape, and he has numerous accusations of sexual assault.
I can’t imagine Melania being anything but an abused spouse, even if it’s “only” psychologically abused. And it’s not fair to blame someone for their actions if their actions are driven by the need to avoid physical violence or emotional terrorism.
I wish she would just stay away. I have no sympathy for her. She chose her life with repulsive baby fists (those tiny hands and feet of his go a long way in explaining his bullying, ragy jealousy of other men) and she can choose to leave. She has no special talents to give the American people. Instead world leaders have been very kind to her. She is an empty vessel who is colluding with this administration.
I will never ever feel sorry for a birther and Melania is a birther.
The fact that she keeps sending people out to tell everyone how she never wanted to go to the White House and how unhappy she is also tells you how thoroughly unpatriotic she really is. Michelle O didn’t want to go either, but once she got there she made the most of it because she loves her country. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. It may be a drag, but imagine how many millions of people you can uplift with a gig like that. Not to mention, you have the opportunity to represent your country on the world stage.
Melania wants no part of any of that. All she wants to do is let everyone know how miserable she is and troll us with her anti-bullying campaign. I’m actually kind of gleeful that Melania is suffering in that marriage. She deserves it.
I agree. Zero sympathy for this lady. She has a platform to make some positive changes and she’s doing nothing. Total waste..
I can’t imagine that Barack Obama would ever have run for any political office without fully discussing it with his wife and children and having their full support. He’s not a Donald Trump. These things affect the whole family. Politicians typically do consider their families before stepping into the fray. At least the good ones do.
I’m sure Melania was never asked and never gave her support to the whole whackadoodle idea of Donald seriously running for President. He ran to get leverage for more money on another reality show. He didn’t want to be President. He didn’t know how to be President. He still doesn’t know how to be President. He doesn’t even know how our government works, much less how international agreements work. He is now clinging to a job he didn’t want and doesn’t know how to do because he thinks being President will save him from indictment for his many crimes over the years. That’s all this nightmare is about. We have a criminal ignoramus hiding out in the Oval Office.
Michelle O. definitely signed on before Barack announced his run. She made it a condition ahead of time that if he ran & won, her mother would move to DC with them to help with the girls. She knew she couldn’t be the kind of FLOTUS she’d want to be AND still give the kind of attention & support to 2 kids that she wanted them to have.
That was pre-agreed.
I don’t feel the slightest bit of concern for her. She’s a lazy aging Barbie doll who is sucking up taxpayer money.
Ditto. She is only/has ever only been in it for the money. Disgusting.
I’m with you, runcmc.
For one thing, when she spouted the birtherism crap, was she any less abused? Did she spout that of her free will or was she coerced? If she was abused and coerced into it, it’s not really the same thing as being a true believer.
We don’t know that she was abused. But we do know what she said.
We don’t know she was abused.
But there’s some evidence she is.
What evidence? So far it’s supposition. But we do know what birtherism crap she spouted
With the ways in which she publicly (repeatedly) rebuffs him, I think she wears the pants in the relationship. I don’t think the rump abuses her physically. I think he is only peripherally connected to her.
FWIW, I think either she had a hissy and temporarily left him, or she had a surgical refresh. After all, appearance is everything to him- think about the quote that she could have a baby only if she “got her body back.”
If she’s being abused she should have just stepped in front of a camera right afterwards instead of going into hiding. His presidency would be over and she would get millions and millions of dollars.
This is not your typical abuse case where women are afraid to leave, or financially unable to, or wouldn’t be believed by anyone. Sure, one can argue that abuse is also a deep psychological situation, loving your abuser and all that. But given how many times she’s publicly rebuffed him, he doesn’t seem to have that kind of psychological hold over her. Quite the opposite in fact.
I feel like she just doesn’t want to jeopardize her super fancy lifestyle.
@noshame – her fancy lifestyle is not long for the world.
I’m of two minds here.
yes, she knew what she signed up for. yes, she’s a complicit birther. yes, she’s bad mouthed the previous POTUS and FLOTUS.
but if she is being physically abused, I have sympathy. NO WOMAN DESERVES TO BE HIT. I don’t like the woman, but if she leaves that orange THING she calls her husband, I will be first in line to high-five her.
I will never feel sorry for her. She chose this relationship and this life. I would, however, gain a tiny bit of respect for her if she divorced his ass during his presidency.
Ironically, I felt the same about Hillary Clinton. I just wanted her to pull a giant UHaul Moving van up on the south lawn and cause the world’s biggest scene.
A) Melanie is an ahole just like her man and B) She can divorce him anytime she wants. As of this moment, this is a free country. There is no law saying First Ladies can’t leave their husbands. Would she suffer financially, yes. And I am sure he would make her life hell, but Melanie can be as free (and broke!) as the rest of us ‘Mericans.
“As of this moment…” shivers
Ahhh, the plastic surgery must have sufficiently healed and settled so now she’s free to be seen again.
Yes. This, exactly.
I’m slightly concerned about her health, honestly. I know -she’s complicit trash just like any of the others. But that’s a LONG time without her being in public. I just automatically get Miscavige vibes from situations like this. Hopefully this was just a case of nip/tuck kind of thing, and not some kind of medical emergency / keeping her holed up like a captive. Again – I know she’s complicit. But the whole situation rings of sketchiness.
I agree. the man has a history of physically and sexually abusing his first wife. a history of (at least) emotional abuse against his second wife. many credible accusations of sexual assault.
and then his third wife disappears for three weeks after being suddenly hospitalized.
makes one wonder. I sincerely hope it was just cosmetic surgery, but they should have just said that. no one would be surprised or care very much.
Divorce him and be a hero – albeit a near-totally useless, racist, plagiarising, sexual assault-apologist hero who lied about her college degree and working illegally in the US – or stay married to a grotesque caricature of a man who will live to be 120 purely out of spite and see him turn your son into another revolting Trump.
Remember – your SS protection is duty bound to protect you for life at taxpayers expense…
That’s what I have been thinking for a while. No idea, though, if she would ever actually do it.
In any case, if she does show up tonight, how will we know if it’s her or Melanie, lol? I actually don’t care that much about her not appearing. I tend to think she is still around but just not showing her face. Not because of surgery or anything but because she’s kinda just done.
I honestly don’t think she will divorce him until Barron turns 18. I don’t think she wants to put Barron in the position of “choosing” her and burning the financial bridge with his dad. (Not that Don would really want custody, but I could see him using Barron as a pawn to play mind games/harass Melania).
She will do these 1 hour public appearances here and there as long as she can get away with it though.
Oh please, don´t act like this is some Shelly Miscavige Situation where we count the days since she has been seen in public. Melania is complicit. She probably negotiates a better deal for her and Barron. I dont care where she is. She can go to hell with the rest of the family.
This. She left him and I think that’s al least partially why they met in Camp David this weekend with Tiffany: probably getting the narrative straight. If she IS indeed making an appearance then I’m sure it was carefully negotiated. I don’t believe the plastic surgery rumors, really, but I do believe that she finally got fed up and left. It was one thing for her to know that Trump was a jackass but now that it’s been revealed to the world and so many people despise him, she’s ready to cut the cord.
Kitten I thought it might be that it has become very obvious Trump was the one who paid off the playmate to have an abortion, and not that gop high roller guy, Broidy. Well, Broidy paid her off, but it was Trump’s baby. This all seemed to happen around the same time. Mainstream media starts writing about that, the dots are connected, she checks into a hospital.
Yeah Darla, I saw your comment down-thread and I can completely get on board with that theory. Matches the timeline nicely for sure.
Darla,
I agree, Your theory has some legs! The first time Melania went against Trump was when the Stormy Daniels reporting made it to the front papers. Melania refused to fly out of the country with him and went to the State of the Union alone. Then the Playmate interview on CNN with Melania refusing to fly with Trump domestically. The 60 Minutes interview with Stormy—-Trump decides to bomb Syrian so Stormy is not on the front page that Monday. Morning Joe commented about this.
Finally…Trump gets implicated with abortion-gate, Melania disappears with Barron as soon as his school closes for summer. Yeah, it’s about the women coming out in public. She showed us how pissed she is.
Kitten – But if her appearance was negotiated, I would expect negotiation to include something convincing that it’s really her in that room.
I dunno about abortiongate. On the one hand, Trump would be capable of paying someone to have an abortion. But why would Broidy kill his career for Trump? It would be easier to have some nobody paid to take the fall. Cheaper, too. If that $4 million plus was actually mostly for Broidy – would that really be enough?
Mint: X1000. “Melanie” can take her Be Best garbage and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
Speaking of Tiffany, I wonder what she is doing with her 1L summer from Georgetown? My butt went to work at a firm all summer.
Anyone else ever see that Dominic Cooper movie where he plays the (alleged) body double of Uday Hussein?
Yeah, I’m keeping a sharp eye out today: Is it Melania or “Melania”?
It’s Melanie!
Exactly. Right there with you on this, ennuisha.
I’m concerned about the mental health of people speculating it was plastic surgery (at Walter Reed? Idiots) or domestic violence (get off it. Trump was certainly capable and known for it in his younger days, but she’s clearly stronger and fitter than he is and he DGAF enough to now). It’s insane when people act like they’re “just concerned!” about a woman they regularly degrade.
Reporters have said over and over they’ve seen her around the white house in the last few weeks – not covered in bruises or bandages.
She’s clearly just checked out of this whole thing. She can’t be bothered. She’s most likely looking at how to get her and Barron back to NYC.
Who can blame her? Her husband and step-kids are deep in it. She obviously won’t have been involved in anything criminal. She’s biding her time here.
I don’t think she is physically abused and agree with your overall comment, but domestic violence can happen even if the victim is ‘stronger and fitter’ than the abuser.
Becks1- yes, fit women who are police officers and combat veterans are not immune from being physically abused. They can be caught by surprise. And they also can have the same issues with the apologize-abuse again-repeat cycle as other women, as well as fears about finances and child custody and disruption of family life.
Even if you are trained in disabling an attacker, actually using that training against a husband or family member is a whole different thing. There is an emotional barrier to beating up and injuring someone you love, at least for normal people. Obviously not for the abuser, but that’s a different dynamic.
Which reporters would those be? Because the ones I’ve seen say there have been zero sightings of her and she was NOT visible in the window Trump said she was peering out of.
Two legit reporters said they saw her recently. The name of one is CNBC reporter Eamon Javers who tweeted “Not that this will deter the conspiracy theorists, but I saw the First Lady walking with her aides in the West Wing yesterday afternoon.”
I can’t find name of other reporter, but he also had a reputable position, I think he was a reporter for Buzzfeed.
I’m skeptical myself, but curious these guys claimed to have seen her. But if she IS in the process of leaving him, I guess it’s not that shocking that she may still be occasionally present to supervise her move.
I was just going to ask the same thing. Name one reporter that has seen her around the WH and not taken a picture, especially now.
But has anybody actually spoken with her to verify it’s her and not her double?
It’s all so weird. If instead of that odd tweet claiming she was so busy working, written in Donald’s style, her staff had just said she was taking a long break to recover properly from her medical issues – speculation would be minimal. If you don’t have to go back to a job, it makes lots of sense to take it easy and enjoy the summer with your kid during school break.
I agree with you. I don’t think wild conspiracy theories are needed to explain the situation. She reached her breaking point and she left him. She didn’t sign up for this. She wanted the plush Manhattan lifestyle with a rich celebrity, not the 24/7 public scrutiny that comes with being married to a POTUS who acts like a mob boss.
I don’t know the first thing about what’s going on with Melania, but you should know that Walter Reed does provide plastic surgery and we’re not idiots for thinking so. A high percentage of combat injuries are burns and/or result in amputations, which require reconstructive surgeries. Additionally, service members and their families get cancer like everyone else and are entitled to plastic surgery (even cosmetic surgeries like breast implants!) as part of their medical care.
Thank you for enlightening Suns Up Monday, Erica.
More fool him/her.
I had a “friend” who was married to an FA-18 pilot. She wanted to leave him and as a way to increase her options to find a new meal ticket, got breast implants on the Air Force’s dime. Totally covered.
@maggiegrace: there’s no way she got those implants at an Air Force hospital SOLELY for cosmetic purposes. Either she lied to you, you’re passing on a false story, or they found breast cancer and she had a mastectomy and reconstruction.
Signed,
An Army Wife for many many years. Also an Army daughter in law, granddaughter, etc.
I have not heard of one sighting by any reporter, and I doubt you have.
Yeah I missed that part of OP’s comment. FTR, I don’t think she’s in the WH. I believe she went back to NYC with Barron. I think at this stage, they’re just strategizing on how to handle her leaving him.
Also, Darla and others below are pointing to the Broidy situation as being the last straw. I can completely see that. Whatever has happened, I think we will be seeing a LOT less of Melania, if we see her at all.
Eamon Javers, for one.
Eamon Javers is the only one.
Which reporters have said they’ve seen her at the White House? The media still seem mystified from what I’ve seen. Who is reporting otherwise and where?
And are they sure it’s her? She has a body double. If no speaking or close contact is involved, it wouldn’t be hard to just have a double float around the halls at the proper times for staff and press to see. The fact that her first official appearance is closed to the press is odd.
I hope it’s just that she is no longer going to pretend to be Donald’s wife and can’t be bullied into acting like she is anymore.
i’m side-eyeing any concern for this woman. for example, there was zero, none, zilch understanding for cam newton and his ridiculous gaff but this… THING get a pass because….? this white-splaining makes me hurl.
Maybe she had plastic surgery or something – I dunno – but I think the real reason we haven’t seen her in 25 days is because she doesn’t want to be seen – and not because of bandages or anything. She just doesn’t care, and she’s not even going to pretend anymore.
BINGO.
Exactly this.
Today marks 500 days of a marionette “presidency.” Racism, misogyny, corruption, lies, nepotism, disgrace, disgust, indictments, plea deals, poor grammar and terrible English. And very small hands and a combover.
We hate you Emperor Zero!
This.
Indeed. And what a long f^%king 500 days it’s been.
It’s going to seem even longer come Friday. I’m taking bets on whether or not Trump will show up in Quebec on Friday for the G7 Summit. Anybody? The gutless coward won’t show, he’ll try to send Pence in his place, cause he knows how stupid he is and exactly how he will come across alone in a room with 6 other world leaders who know what they are doing. Macron, Trudeau, Merkel, etc are going to talk circles around him and if he is made to feel inadequate, he’ll end NAFTA to everybody’s detriment.
I hate him so much. He’s tweeting about how he can absolutely pardon himself. We are so f*cked.
The Dotard is such a dumbass that he doesn’t even realize that all the “pardon himself” talk shows how he’s guilty and is (hopefully) going down.
Same. It’s depressing.
Hmm. A pardon removes the ability to take the fifth. Donald could end up in contempt of court if he pardons himself and refuses to testify under subpoena. People have ended up in jail for a long time that way.
Tonight, I watched the first of a three-part documentary about Trump, his shenanigans, the Russia connection, the election, Mr Mueller’s investigation, etc., made by the award-winning Australian program, FourCorners, and conducted by the multi-award-winning investigative journalist, Sarah Ferguson. I’m not sure if it will play in the US, but here is the link:
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/
Once you get the page, you’ll see it’s the first thing there. It’s well worth a try – fascinating stuff. And drump looks worse than we all think.
Here’s a 10 minute grab of Sarah interviewing Tim O’Brien:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qa3oQnVp2c
I honestly can’t imagine my perception of Donnie can get any lower.
But then he and the GOP seem determined to prove there is no floor.
I will be shocked if a picture of her emerges from today’s event. I have no idea where she is but it’s really creepy that they are trying to hide her from public view.
If she is 100% artificially perfect looking, she will be seen..this talk of bandages and bruising is silly..no trump female is permitted to have a line or extra inch exposed publicly. I keep wondering why nothing is ever said about junior’s soon to be ex..does she have info we’ll never hear? Has anyone ever tried to find out?
Quite a few pundits were saying (when it first occurred) that it was just a $$$ hiding scheme, so that when Jr. is indicted/found guilty (as we know he is), that all of their assets will be protected. They spent very cozy family time at MAL right after this “split”, so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least with these evil, complicit crooks.
Something happened to really make her NGAF about being first lady or about being seen in public with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was doing this to get him to agree to a) a divorce or b) to let and Barron go back to NYC and live with Complicit Barbie taking over her FL duties.
It’s blatantly obvious she wants to get off the train as it speeds into the mouth of hell
I don’t think she ever GAF about being First Lady. In fact, it seemed like she dreaded it. But you are right that at least she would be seen with him. Maybe it wasn’t any one thing but just a culmination of her dread of the position and her loathing for him and she just decided to drop out of sight?
I luv a conspiracy, so here is mine. The benign kidney issue. She needed a transplant and got bumped to first of the list. Hence secrecy and long down time.
Sips hot lemonade because tea is gross.
You know, that doesn’t sound so far fetched.
This is very plausible and the reason would be that the public would be ticked that people who have been waiting for years were bumped down the list for her or it could be that a friend or family member donated one.
Passes lemonade with tinfoil hat garnish lol
I was going to say – couldn’t she have avoided the list with a relative donation? I know one of my friends donated a kidney to her dad. But then I thought about it – I have no idea if she’d have anyone close enough to her able to donate, honestly. So I guess it’s possible.
Parents and a sister, and they are all extremely close. The parents are in Washington now to help with Barron, but they have an apartment in Trump Tower. The sister is in a nearby Trump Building. Barron has apparently always spent a large part of his time with his grandparents and is fluent in their native language.
Nah, I’d rather her go down with them than escape, honestly. I could honestly not care less about this woman and her health/safety.
It’s hard for me to imagine any Gold Star family accepting an invitation to this White House.
Melania is such a lazy First Lady. Why is the media not calling her out for being useless?
I don’t feel sorry for her and hope she goes down with her disgusting husband.
Force her into a job? She expressed no interest in the job, didn’t apply, she wasn’t interviewed, she wasn’t even asked if she wanted the job. How would you feel being told that because hubby has a new job for the next four years, you’re busting your ass too, in front of the whole country?
We all find our lives going in unexpected and unwelcome directions at times. The rest of us suck it up and deal, we don’t hide and sulk. She has access to resources most of us don’t – FLOTUS staff, drivers, nannies, security, chefs, housekeepers, etc. Most of us could achieve a lot with that kind of assistance.
I will say the timing of her disappearance is odd. If she knew she would be out of commission for a while, why announce her big FLOTUS initiative when she did? Why not wait until you’re ready to give it 100%?
My next-door neighbour’s brother-in-law’s workmate’s cousin’s best friend’s sister’s mum said she saw her taking a stroll in Ljubljana. I believe her.
Is that a joke about what you perceive to be conspiracy theories or are you playing Six Degrees of Slovenians?
You are very perceptive, Betsy. 😏
He’s cloning her. Real Melania will go live in secret with her man.
She disappeared right after the NY Magazine article that suggested that the Elliott Broidy/playboy model affair/abortion/payoff was really about Trump. I think that’s true, and I think it was her last straw. I haven’t talked to her, so I might be wrong.
This is my theory too! It’s kind of obvious if you really look at the timeline right?
Oh this is interesting. I wonder if she simply can’t fake it anymore. And he’s so angry at that that he’s refusing to let her appear. Or maybe he really did beat her. I know someone up thread said that he doesn’t care anymore, but that’s bullsh*t. He’s a volatile man.
Trump is an unstable man who has a history of getting violent under stress, it happened to Ivana. And he has a history of violence all through childhood and adolescence. He barely contains it simply to avoid getting jailed. He is now POTUS and believes he can’t be arrested for anything he does. He can only be impeached and he thinks the Republicans won’t allow that.
It’s not much of a stretch that he could lose it and assault his wife or son at some point behind closed doors, so the Secret Service couldn’t step in fast enough to stop it. He is a large man and quite capable of doing serious damage if a person is caught unaware. He is under tremendous stress, the worst in his life. Even Donald may be realizing that his criminal activity is about to come out in the open. He is hiding in the Presidency to avoid indictment.
I think both his wife and son are at great personal risk if they come anywhere near him at the moment. And Melania may know it. And of course she’s being humiliated by all the recent revelations of his cheating ways. I doubt that Jackie Kennedy would have stayed with JFK under the same conditions. She put up with his constant cheating, but it was kept private. The same is true for others with unfaithful POTUS husbands. Hillary Clinton was an anomaly, although she said they underwent intensive faith-based marriage counseling. They did start out as really good friends and were politically in sync, though, so she had more to lose by not trying to save her relationship with Bill.
@jwoolman I doubt Melanie is capable of feeling humiliation. Melania was the “other woman” when Trump was married to Marla Maples. Why would she ever believe he would be faithful to her if he was unable to be faithful to wife #1 or wife #2?
That’s some kind of 60s mess, that sweater coat she’s wearing in the first photo! Some fashion trends should not be revived.
As for the instant issue I can’t decide whether she’s ill, had surgery or gone back to NYC for the summer. (But who goes to Manhattan for the summer??)
I actually love the sweater coat. Almost as much as I loathe the Trumps.
*runs and hides*
Esmom, it’s okay to love the coat. Doesn’t mean you love the person wearing it. No need to run and hide! 🙂
Esmom:
LOL! Well, the more I look at it the more it’s OK. But still, those flowers are so Sixties!
I don’t like her but I would laugh so hard if this ended in divorce. But I don’t know if we really want that… You think he’s unhinged now! He’ll go on the biggest tear ever if she leaves him.
He would replace her within a week.
@lightpurple – Oh he so would. And he’d parade her round as if Melania (Melania who? Don’t know her) never existed, tweeting about how bigly his new FLOTUS’s assets were.
On a desperately depressing note, that there are women out there (and there clearly are) who would still willingly jump on the trump makes me die a little.
Is it melania or melanie that’s going?
Why would anyone feel concerned about or sorry for this vacuous, self-serving hypocrit when she’s never shown a single ounce of basic empathy for anyone? I would no more waste sympathy on her than I would on that orange freak she happily married knowing who and exactly what he was.
I’d wish nothing but misery on her were it not for poor Barron, the only Trump deserving of sympathy for the grimly poor cards life dealt him with those two ignorant morons for parents.
Again, imagine this was about Michelle Obama.
This is just so fishy all around. Obviously the Trump Administration is one big fishy affair (among many other words I could have used to describe it) and in other countries First Ladies are not so visible (when I lived in Spain, you rarely heard or saw the First Lady of Spain, I didn’t even know her name or what she looked like). But for an American First Lady to go dark for so long is unheard of. These are my “conspiracy theories”:
1) It wasn’t a kidney procedure, but cosmetic. But apparently Walter Reed isn’t a go-to hospital for plastic surgery.
2) The kidney condition was more serious than reported and Melania needed more recuperation time out of the spotlight. I really hope it isn’t something like cancer.
3) Melania had a nervous breakdown of some kind/deep depression and needed to be hospitalized in order to recover. This is the one I am leaning towards the most. Though I don’t know anything about Walter Reed’s psychiatric services. Maybe she finally told Trump enough was enough, she was leaving him. He obviously didn’t react well and the confrontation left Melania emotionally overwhelmed so that she had be sent to the hospital.
I don’t think I buy the domestic violence rumors. Melania has proved in public several times she is not afraid to reject her husband by so I don’t think she would let herself get pushed around like that physically. They can’t keep the charade up for long, eventually it will come out that she is leaving him.
Just wanted to point out that DV victims aren’t always doormats and submissive. They do try to stand up for themselves quite often and in public even, where they might even feel the most safe. Not saying Melania IS a DV victim but it’s a Myth that she wouldn’t dare rebuff him if he abuses her.
I don’t care.
I think the kidney issue turned out to be more serious than was hoped for. Could have ended up having had kidney removed either laparascopically or via open surgery. I’d hope its nothing requiring chemo followup.
Truthfully I think she’s completely over it and while she renegotiated the prenup to not file for divorce or publicly separate during his administration……that every new reveal of porno star copulations, dalliances and abortions just pisses her off more and more. She may not make a legal or public move for $$ reasons, but by golly she isn’t helping him in any other way.
I’ve never been on board with expectations of FLOTUS. It’s patriarchy based and inane. They don’t run For office, we don’t vote for them and we hold them to ridiculous standards. They should be largely private citizens.
Run Melania Run! Keep running, get out now.
I do believe that something is going on that isn’t being revealed to the public. Possibilities:
1. Renal cancer which meant removal of the kidney. Renal cancer is mainly treated surgically as it doesn’t respond to chemo/radiation. Not sure how long the recovery from surgery would take.
2. She left Washington and is living in NYC but wouldn’t it be difficult to keep the whole cost/burden of security a secret? God knows we heard enough about that before.
3. Recovering from cosmetic surgery.
Like others have said she clearly didn’t want this and had no say in the matter other than to leave him. But consider this, Trump is a very powerful man and maybe has a hold over Melania in the person of Barron who is her life I believe. Maybe a separation would be too stressful to him who I believe is autism spectrum. Or maybe Trump is threatening that he will fight for full legal custody if she were to leave. He has the resources to make that happen for sure. Persps she doesn’t have the agency that we think she does because a school aged child sure complicates things.
She knows things. There is no way she doesn’t after a decade+ of marriage. Him fighting her for custody could get real ugly real fast.
Yes, I think she’s knows LOTS of things lol.
Ya like Katie Holmes maybe. Well she is either in it for the money (Something I cannot fathom given what a creep he is) or he has a hold on her. Or another stretch keeping it together for Barron who I believe has special needs.
The only reason Trump would want custody of Barron would be to spite Melania. He has never parented his other four children. Why would he parent this one?
Not sure who is more useless – flotus or potus. Like she’s any kind of first lady.
Will there be an official White House photographer at today’s event? “Pictures or it didn’t happen.” –Michael K.
According to reports on Twitter, today’s event is closed to the press. The plot thickens ….
The simplest explanation is usually the best one. As for WHY she went to NY, there are about a million good reasons to pick from, so I’ll leave that part alone. What I think happened was:
1. She sent her parents ahead of her to the penthouse in Trump Towers.
2. She had to wait back in DC until Barron was out of school for the summer.
3. Went to NY with Barron to join her parents for at least the summer.
Yeah, it’s true, no one goes to Manhattan for the summer–yuck–but she pretty much stays in that air-conditioned penthouse so it wouldn’t make much difference to her either way.
She lives on the public dole. I don’t know if she is a good person or not. But she owes the country a duty as First Lady whether she wants the job or not. She needs to get off her booty and do something.
I’m not sure how any unelected FLOTUS can be said to “live on the public dole” @Shelley. Of course, the first family doesn’t pay rent while living at the WH nor are they charged for utilities. That would be true for an elected president even if there wasn’t a first lady (or first gentleman 🙂 But they do pay for their own groceries and personal supplies, they do buy their own clothes (perhaps sometimes receiving consideration from designers but that’s not the public dole.) The president’s salary is paid for serving as the president. While I suppose that’s the “public dole” one could say anyone working in a position funded by federal or state taxes is in the same situation. Do we consider school teachers paid by state or local taxes to be on the dole? Or perhaps more on point are their spouses if they don’t have a paying job in their own right? If not, where is the public dole for the presidential spouse outside of required security? And where the heck is the job description for FLOTUS anyway?
I hope Barron finishes growing up with minimal contact with his father. Well he probably already does have minimal contact so maybe he should have none. I’m getting a vibe that this entire disappearance scenario involves Barron as well as Melania.
Keep in mind that if he pardons himself, that is only for federal crimes. He has no pardon power for state crimes. I have read that this is the reason Mike Flynn made a deal and why Manafort may be contemplating one. If you recall the story about Flynn trying to send a dissident living in PA back to Turkey by kidnapping him:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/10/michael-flynn-trump-turkish-dissident-cleric-plot
A kidnapping charge in PA would have gotten him hard time in a PA state prison – not the cushy deal he will get in a federal prison. So any pardon Dotard gives to himself, his kids and son in law will trigger the NY Attorney General’s office to start charging them for decades of crimes in NYC: money laundering, racketeering, fraud, etc.
They will all begging Dotard to undo the pardons!!
Trump may not realize this, but if he pardons anybody then they can no longer take the 5th in court. If they refuse to answer, I think that’s contempt of court. Journalists have ended up in jail for long times for refusing to reveal sources, for example. For grand juries, it seems to be for the life of that grand jury. So getting pardoned doesn’t mean getting off completely even for federal charges in this case.
No press allowed in to see Melania. Hmmmm…..
DM has a video (looks like from a phone) of her at the event.
But did she talk in the video?
They’ve just been so weird about it. That odd tweet really raised suspicions. I feel like I’m in the middle of a Miss Marple/Hercule Poirot joint mystery and anything can happen.
Where Melania is, is where the Secret Service are stationed. Just follow the bread crumbs.