“While former President Donald Trump watches his second impeachment trial unfold, Melania Trump spends most of her time post-White House relaxing at the spa and staying out of the fray. Though she is now a former first lady of the United States, her daily routine has not seen a significant change. Trump is in the midst of setting up an official office and has hired three former employees from her East Wing staff in the hopes of resurrecting her Be Best campaign of helping children, continuing her ‘work,’ as she calls it to friends” CNN reports.
“When Trump left Washington, she had the worst favorability ratings of any modern first lady upon departure from the White House, according to polling conducted by SSRS for CNN. After the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Melania Trump did not make a statement denouncing the violence for five days. ‘She could see how it was going to go for her,’ said one former White House official who spoke to CNN, noting that Trump felt she was in a lose-lose predicament whether she spoke publicly or not. If she condemned the violence, her husband and his base would be angered and it would create a stir about her breaking with the President. And by staying silent, she was implying support for what happened. ‘Once (the insurrection) happened, she knew there was nothing to gain for her by speaking out or doing something – so she didn’t do anything,’ the former White House official said. Disappointed by the way she left Washington, she has been ‘bitter and chilly’ at times toward her husband, upset that her image became collateral damage in his quest to denounce the election and procure a peaceful transfer of power. But Trump’s most fervent ire has come from watching Jill Biden kick off her East Wing tenure on nearly the antithesis of the path Trump took. Biden moved into the White House right away, for starters, and had a staff hired and fleshed out within two weeks of the inauguration.”