Melania Trump: A Silent Tragedy

An insignificant act of defiance underscores the public embarrassment of the potential First Lady of America.

She has never fully embraced the role of campaign spouse. She has shown reluctance, remaining reserved at best, and largely absent from the campaign trail for most of the past 16 months. The third Mrs. Trump enjoyed her semi-private life as the wife of a New York real-estate billionaire turned reality star.

She frequented galas, divided her time between the Trumps’ luxurious Fifth Avenue penthouse and country home, and jetted off on private planes to Palm Beach. Therefore, it is understandable that she was hesitant when her husband was considering entering the presidential race last year. “I told him, ‘You really need to think about this, because our family life will change. The three of us will change.’ I understand the demands of traveling and all that,” she shared with Dujour magazine earlier this year. After Donald Trump made the decision to run, she made it clear that her priority would be her role as a mother, often opting out of the primary state events that were keeping her husband and his older children busy, until the general-election campaign once again thrust her into the national spotlight.

Melania often appeared as a quiet presence, standing behind her poised stepdaughter Ivanka. Her introverted nature and desire to keep her personal politics private contributed to this dynamic. However, her tendency to step into controversy without much explanation likely deterred her from being more public. Despite receiving praise for her speech at the Republican National Convention, it was soon discovered that parts of it had been borrowed from a speech by Michelle Obama at a Democratic convention eight years prior. The media also scrutinized her educational background, as discrepancies arose regarding her college degree as stated in the R.N.C. bio and her official website. Additionally, questions were raised about her immigration story, prompting her husband to announce a press conference to address the matter.

The press conference never took place. However, it should be noted that Melania has not remained silent. On the contrary, she has faced a series of campaign setbacks. In response to a story insinuating that she had worked as an escort, she threatened legal action against several news outlets. This led to retractions and apologies from those involved. Melania has also been vocal about her immigration status. When tapes were leaked last week, featuring her then new husband discussing inappropriate behavior towards women, she issued a statement expressing her hope that people would accept his apology, as she had. Additionally, during the debate, she wore a hot-pink pussy bow around her neck, which some interpreted as a subtle reference to her husband’s controversial language.

Melania evoked sympathy as multiple women accused her husband of sexual assault, including a claim from People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, who described an incident during the Trumps’ first wedding anniversary where Donald allegedly made advances towards her while Melania was changing.

The day after the report was published in People, Melania’s attorney, Charles Harder, sent a letter to the magazine and Stoynoff, demanding an apology and a retraction. Melania then shared the letter on her Twitter account. However, there was something profoundly tragic about this small act of public bravery. In the letter, Melania did not object to the explicit actions Stoynoff accused her husband of, such as allegedly forcing his tongue into her mouth while his pregnant wife was upstairs or boasting about his sexual abilities. Instead, Melania requested that the magazine withdraw the writer’s claims of a chance encounter on Fifth Avenue months later, along with their account of a brief conversation between the two.

“Mrs. Trump did not encounter Ms. Stoynoff on the street, nor have any conversation with her. The two are not friends and were never friends or even friendly,” the letter reads. “At the time in question, Mrs. Trump would not have even recognized Ms. Stoynoff if they had encountered one another on the street.”

Of course, this misses the point. This is perhaps the least important bit of information in Stoynoff’s essay and the least of Melania’s problems. But what other recourse does she have? She has been publicly humiliated by her husband’s words and the allegations against him. Perhaps Melania isn’t so different from the women who have come forward over the last week, who, too, feel angry and humiliated by Donald. A legal threat over one insignificant portion of an essay in an entertainment magazine may well seem foolish or trivial in the scheme of the storm brewing around her family, but that may well be her only alternative right now. There are 24 days until the election, and she is bound by a flailing campaign and likely an iron-clad pre-nuptial agreement. If she wants to take issue with whether or not there was a chance meeting on Fifth Avenue more than a decade ago, it shouldn’t be seen as petty. It should be seen as profoundly sad.