Lady & The Trump

Even before her recent “disappearance”, US First Lady Melania Trump’s commitment to the role was publicly doubted.

- Joanne Black

In a room that looks remarkably like the Oval Office, US First Lady Melania Trump is standing next to, but not touching, her husband, US President Donald Trump. She is wearing that now-familiar expression that seems to say she would rather be somewhere else.

In this case her wish is granted, because the Melania in the room is merely a waxwork version, and it is not the real Oval Office but Madame Tussauds New York.

In real life, Trump has been the subject of a media frenzy during a 25-day absence from the public spotlight as she underwent kidney surgery. Her “disappearance”, which ended last week, fuelled speculation about the state of her marriage and willingness to embrace the role of US First Lady.

In April, when President Trump’s former press secretary Sean Spicer was invited to Madame Tussauds to unveil the attraction’s latest celebrity lookalike, he was asked about the real First Lady.

Spicer told the gathering that she was kind and intelligent. “[She is] very interested in who you are and the issues you have in your life,” the New York Times reported him saying. “And I think, you know, that’s kind of who she is. She’s a very supportive – she’s very well read and always interested in what’s happening and, to the extent possible, willing to share her thoughts and ideas about what’s going on.”

The praise is similar to that from Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron. The French “first couple” made a state visit to Washington DC in April. Afterwards, Brigitte Macron praised her American counterpart, telling Le Monde that Trump was, “kind, charming, intelligent and very open”. Macron also revealed aspects of Trump’s restricted lifestyle at the White House.