Melania Trump sleeps in a separate bedroom on a different floor of the White House from her husband, has her own ‘glam room,’ nearly lost a kidney during her May 2018 health crisis and has feuded with her step-daughter Ivanka Trump, a new book claims.
‘Free, Melania,’ written by CNN reporter Kate Bennett, is an unauthorized biography of the first lady that reveals the level of influence Melania, 49, plays in Donald Trump‘s administration despite the pubic rarely hearing from her.
The 288-page book is out Tuesday and it examines Melania’s life ‘from her childhood in Slovenia to her days in the White House, and everything in between,’ according to its summary on Amazon.com.
An upcoming biography of Melania Trump reveals new details about the first lady
‘Free, Melania’ is out on Tuesday
The biography reveals President Trump and Melania Trump – seen above on inauguration day – sleep in separate bedrooms on different floors of the White House
Revelations include why the first lady wore that infamous ‘I really don’t care, do u’ jacket, new details on the severity of her May 2018 health crisis, behind-the-scene details of her White House life, and an examination of the first lady’s relationship with Ivanka Trump.
Ivanka Trump’s portfolio – which includes women’s issues and overseas trips to promote her causes – and its similarity to activities usually done by a first lady have caused drama to the two women, CNN notes in its write up of the book.
‘The trips were, according to a source, too close for comfort for Melania, who thought Ivanka was invading her turf,’ Bennet writes, according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the biography.
In fact, Bennet theorizes that Melania’s wearing of the ‘I really don’t care do u jacket’ – which she donned to June 2018 trip to the Texas border – was directed at Ivanka.
‘I believed, and still do, that the jacket was a facetious jab at Ivanka and her near-constant attempts to attach herself for positive administration talking points,’ Bennett writes.
The White House said the jacket’s message was directed at the media.
And Melania herself told ABC News the jacket was directed at ‘the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me.’
‘I want to show them that I don’t care,’ she said. ‘You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.’
The jacket caused a huge controversy at the time and is still one of the defining images of the first lady – who is often judged by her outfits (the military style jackets, her stiletto heels, and the jacket thrown over the shoulders).
Ivanka Trump was 23 when the then-Melania Knauss married Trump at a church near the couple’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Knauss was Trump’s third marriage.
The book claims Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump – seen in the Oval Office in February 2017 – have feuded
The book claims first daughter Ivanka and first lady Melania – seen on inauguration day – have clashed over their respective roles in the administration
Book author Kate Bennet theorizes Melania’s ‘I really don’t care, do u’ jacket was aimed at Ivanka
Despite the tension the two women were reported to have tag-teamed the president in the past – first to urge him to end his controversial policy of separating migrant children from their families caught illegally crossing the border and then after his rally in North Carolina this past July, where they told him to disavow the ‘send her back’ chant his supporters yelled about Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
Additionally ‘Free, Melania’ offers new details on the first lady’s May 2018 kidney procedure, when she was hospitalized for a week and spent over 20 days out of public sight recovering.
The White House said the first lady ‘underwent an embolization procedure to treat a benign kidney condition.’
But ‘Free, Melania’ reports Melania’s friends feared she could have lost the organ.
‘Melania’s medical procedure was indeed not minor — and that an embolization of a growth of some sort, small or large, when attached to the kidney, as hers might have been, made for a dangerous and complicated procedure,’ the book notes.
‘Couple that with the amount of pain she had apparently been in, according to close friends, and how long she had been in pain prior to the surgery, and there was concern that if her recuperation was not careful and extended, her type of condition could possibly result in the loss of her kidney,’ it adds.
Melania Trump has been one of the most private first ladies in recent history.
She rarely gives a TV interview, has yet to appear on the cover of a major magazine, and her staff runs her social media accounts.
A few details have leaked out here and there.
Melania Trump has made it clear her priority is her 13-year-old son Barron
But she has taken a personal interest in overseeing events like the White House Christmas decorations – above she receives the White House Christmas Tree
Melania personally chose the ‘Spirit of America’ Christmas theme for the White House
The most consistent of which is that Melania has made it clear her 13-year-old son Barron is her first priority.
The first lady delayed moving into the White House after her husband was elected so their son could finish out his school year in New York.
And she told school kids on an April trip to Fort Bragg of her role that: ‘It’s a balancing act and my son – our son – is still a priority. So I feel I am still a mother first. He is at an age where he needs parents for guidance.’
She’s also offered tidbits like the family’s favorite meal was ‘maybe spaghetti,’ she has redecorated the White House bowling alley, and that her son is not on social media.
She and the president were reported to have separate rooms but the biography reveals they sleep on separate floors in the White House residence.
And the first lady has her own suite of rooms in the White House on a separate floor from the president’s.
President Trump is on the second floor while Melania Trump is on the third floor, in the two-room space formerly occupied by Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson.
The first lady also has a ‘glam room,’ where she does her hair and makeup, and a private gym with a Pilates machine, the book reveals.
It’s unclear what role Melania will play in the 2020 election but she spoke at the June campaign rally in Florida where President Trump formally announced his bid for a second term
‘Free, Melania’ comes out after the first lady has spent nearly three years in the White House and the president is gearing up for his 2020 re-election campaign.
It’s unclear what role Melania will play in that endeavor but she did speak at his rally formally kicking off his re-election effort.
Barely garnering a mention in the book’s pages is the first couple’s son, Barron.
And it notes Melania’s signature program ‘Be Best’ is unlikely to have the kind of lasting impact of Nancy Reagan’s Just Say No or Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiatives.
Besides her Be Best initiative, the first lady has taken a strong interest in holiday celebrations at the White House, personally overseeing and designing themes for major events like the Easter Egg Roll and the White House Christmas decorations, which were revealed on Monday.
This year’s White House theme is ‘Spirit of America’ and Melania first started planning for them in June.
Her goal is for guests to experience the warmth of family when they visit the White House, her spokesperson said.
‘As always, Mrs. Trump put the guest experience first and applied that to every detail of planning. It is her intention that people get a sense of warmth, family, nostalgia, and the important meaning of Christmas as they walk the halls of the people’s house,’ White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told DailyMail.com earlier this month.
