Melania Trump's First 143 Days
Whither Melania?
Well now we know. As of last night, she's officially a resident of the White House, along with her son Barron and maybe her parents.
Melania has in fact been more visible of late. She toured the Middle East and Europe with the president last month, meeting the pope and France's first lady Brigitte Macron (among other world ladies). But before the first overseas visit for POTUS and FLOTUS, Melania Trump made very few public appearances - she's given few interviews and is a rare presence on social media. In a vacuum, speculation ran rampant that she was miserable, a princess locked up in Trump Tower (case in point, the periodically-trending hashtag #freemelania).
The truth is, she has been around, just mostly not in D.C. While other first ladies chose to kickstart agendas or organize state dinners in their early days, Melania seems determined to do things, well, differently.
We took a closer look a what the first lady has been up to over the course of her husband's first 143 days in office.
June 11, 2017
Watch Out D.C.: There Are Two New Trumps In Town
Melania and Barron join the president as he flies from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. - where he's been spending his weekends since Mar-a-Lago closed for the season - to Washington D.C. They have officially moved.
May 22, 2017
Unusual Place for a President’s Family on a Foreign Trip: Center Stage
During their nine-day trip abroad, Melania hands out Dr. Seuss books to kids at an Israeli children's hospital - and, in an now-infamous clip, appears to push away her husband's hand in Tel Aviv.
May 20, 2017
She's Watching You: Melania Scours Media to Protect Trump
Politico calls her a "private watchdog" of Trump's media presence: "Melania Trump is an avid consumer of cable news. She often tracks the news of the day and will alert her husband to stories she thinks make him look bad."
May 15, 2017
Melania announces that Barron will attend St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland.
May 15, 2017
Melania Trump Celebrated Mother's Day with Barron; Donald Trump Played Golf
“A spokeswoman for Melania Trump said she is spending the day with her family,” per the Washington Examiner. Donald Trump celebrated Mother’s Day elsewhere.
May 4, 2017
Melania's Yellow Dior Gown Makes Headlines
The Trumps have dinner aboard the USS Intrepid to commemorate the anniversary of a battle during World War II.
May 3, 2017
Curious: Melania Trump Liked a Tweet about The Miserable State of her Marriage
The verified @melaniatrump account favorites a tweet that jokes about the “wall” between POTUS and FLOTUS. Less than an hour later, the “like” is removed. Her communications director says Melania wasn’t aware of the “like” and they have changed passwords.
Seems the only #Wall @realDonaldTrump's built is the one between him and @FLOTUS #Melania #trump pic.twitter.com/XiNd2jiLUF
- Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) May 3, 2017
May 3, 2017
Melania Trump No Longer Wears Fur
She sends a letter to PETA advocate Pamela Anderson thanking her for a gift of a faux lamb fur coat. Pamela Anderson tweets the letter.
May 1, 2017
Melania Trump Welcomed Teachers to a 'Weird' White House Ceremony
At the annual National Teacher of the Year awards, things appear awkward as President Trump sits for the entire occasion, and the teachers’ guests, many of whom traveled to the event, are left in a nearby room. The teachers sing “Happy Birthday” to Melania.
April 26, 2017
Her First Birthday as a First Lady
Melania turns 47 years old.
April 24, 2017
East Wing Shoots Down Reports that First Lady Melania Trump is Unhappy
She is spotted dining with her husband at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
April 17, 2017
Melania Presides Over the Trump's First White House Easter Egg Roll
At the White House Easter Egg Roll, Melania reads the book Party Animals by Kathy Lee Gifford, and tells a 14-year-old TIME for Kids reporter she chose the book “because it shows that we are all different, but we are all the same.” She also appears to nudge her husband to place his hand over his heart during the National Anthem.
April 15, 2017
Melania Trump Visits with Victims of Domestic Violence
FLOTUS brings Easter baskets to women at a HomeSafe facility in Palm Beach County.
April 14, 2017
"Melania Trump Seemed like a Rebellious First Lady. She's Turning Out to be a Retro One"
“The public glare still seems challenging for the first lady, who is said to cherish her privacy. At the [International Women’s Day] awards ceremony, Trump read from a teleprompter and seemed uncomfortable behind the microphone, but warmly embraced the awardees, looking visibly relaxed when her speech was over,” writes The Washington Post.
April 12, 2017
Melania Trump Wins an Apology from the Daily Mail
The paper agrees to pay a reported $2.9 million in costs and damages. “It’s far less than the $150 million Trump's initial suit demanded, but still extraordinary that a First Lady earned a public retraction and payout from a media organization,” writes Vanity Fair.
April 12, 2017
Melania Trump’s Bowling Adventure Did Not Include Any Actual Bowling
Barron Trump celebrates his 11th birthday party at a bowling alley in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood with friends and Tiffany Trump. The New York Post reports, “We’re told stylish FLOTUS was in heels and did not bowl.”
April 7, 2017
Melania Does Her First Lady Duty - In Florida
Melania Trump and China's Madame Peng Liyuan visit Bak Middle School in Florida and listen to children perform in a music class.
April 5, 2017
Melania Trump and the Politics of Airbrushing
Her official portrait debuts. As Robin Givhan writes in the Washington Post, “[the portrait] is jarring because her face appears to be heavily retouched, or perhaps just photographed through a lens smeared with Vaseline.”
April 5, 2017
Melania Trump Goes on a Field trip to an All-Girls Charter School
The Washington Post recounts their visit: “‘Beautiful,’ Trump said softly, while looking at a painting by one of the students.”
March 29, 2017
Melania Trump Honors 13 Women for Their ‘Exceptional Courage’
She gives a speech at the International Women of Courage Awards, saying, "Wherever women are diminished, the entire world is diminished with them. However, wherever women are empowered, towns and villages, schools and economies, are empowered and together, we are all made strong with them."
March 6, 2017
First Lady Melania Trump Touts Equality at International Women's Day Luncheon
"As an immigrant myself, having grown up in a communist society, I know all too well the value and importance of freedom and equal opportunity - ideals which this great nation was founded and has continued to strive towards throughout its history,” she says, according to CNN.
March 3, 2017
An Awkward Moment When Melania Visits a Hospital
During a trip to the New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, she reads Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go and encourages children to think “very, very outside the box.” “At one point, a child refuses to give Trump a hug, but she still tried to pose for a picture with her,” writes AOL.com. “The first lady moved past the awkward moment by hugging and posing with other children.”
February 28, 2017
As Rebecca Mead writes in the New Yorker, Republicans give her a long and enthusiastic welcome, while “many Democrats, meanwhile, declined to join in the ovation; they could be seen turning back to their seats, forgoing what might, in less contentious times, be a routine gesture of good manners.”
February 26, 2017
First Lady Hosts Her First White House Soirée: It's Oscars Weekends so Nobody Notices
In a statement, Melania says the annual Governors Ball party has a “Spring's Renewal” theme and “the scents of jasmine and roses fill the air as we give thanks for this great nation and the glory of renewal.”
February 18, 2017
Melania Attends One of President Trump's Campaign Rallies
She opens the event with a recitation of the Lord's Prayer, after which she says she dreams of a country “that works for all Americans, and where all Americans can work and succeed, a nation committed to a greater civility and unity between people from all sides of the political divide.”
February 15, 2017
She Visits the New Smithsonian Museum of African-American History
Melania heads to the Smithsonian’s African American Museum of History and Culture with Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
February 11, 2017
Melania Entertains Japan's First Lady - But Not In Washington
Melania and Akie Abe go to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida. The previous evening the Trumps have dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, along with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
February 6, 2017
Melania Trump Watches the Super Bowl at a Trump Branded Property
Melania attends a Super Bowl party at Trump International Golf Club in Florida. She doesn’t appear to enjoy football.
February 4, 2017
First Lady Melania Trump Wears Pink
Melania attends a charity ball at Mar-a-Lago.
January 21, 2017
Hundreds Pack Washington National Cathedral for Trump Inaugural Prayer Service
Melania is seen in public for the first time since her husband’s inauguration - and the women's marches that occurred around the country - and the world - on the Saturday after.. Melania prays.
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