In the lead-up to the release of Melania Trump’s memoir, the media was abuzz with speculation that the former first lady would come out in support of abortion rights.
A widely shared video trailer seemed to indicate as much, even though in promoting the book on social media on Tuesday, the official day of release, Donald Trump’s wife heralded much more benign content, writing, “I hope you enjoy stories from my childhood, the White House years, how I became a model, our beautiful wedding, and so much more.”
Five days earlier, she had posted a video on X in which she said “Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth — individual freedom. What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?”
The soundbite led some people on social media to say that with it, Trump was promoting Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Although Melania Trump had been promoting the memoir since early September with relatively little attention, it was the hint of a husband-wife conflict over abortion that made the media salivate, even though Donald Trump has said he told his wife “you have to write what you believe.”
Well, the book is out. And it’s being slammed as “interminably dull” (Vanity Fair), a “plainspoken dash through Melania’s life” (USA Today) and “slim and full of obfuscations” (The New York Times). Variety did allow for some “occasional flashes of insight,” but for the most part, the 256-page memoir, published by Skyhorse, does not seem poised to either help or hurt Donald Trump’s campaign.
But it does lay out Melania Trump’s position on abortion — which is not at all like an ad for the Harris-Walz campaign, and is slightly more nuanced than the teasers led us to believe.
What is the ‘Melania’ memoir about?
In the book, Melania Trump moves quickly through her childhood in Slovenia, where she grew up in a Catholic household with married parents and an older sister. She describes a fast-track modeling career that took her to Milan, Paris and ultimately New York City.
Here’s her description of winning one international modeling competition: “As I stood there, I was showered with gifts. A bouquet of flowers, a gleaming silver plaque, a stunning painting of the castle, and an envelope filled with my prize money. ‘Let us capture this incredible moment!’ the photographers shouted.”
She later writes of walking in Midtown Manhattan and coming across a Times Square billboard with her “large-than-life image” on it: “In that moment, a surge of pride washed over me, knowing that my work had paid off in the most rewarding way.” But the tales of the modeling career soon give way to romance.
Of meeting Donald Trump at the Kit Kat Club in Manhattan during Fashion Week when she was 28, she writes of his “magnetic energy,” and said, “I knew he was a businessman or a celebrity, but not much else.” He was with a date, but when his date left for a few minutes, he asked for Melania’s phone number. She declined to give it, but said she would take his, and she later called him after a business trip.
She goes on to describe the development of their relationship, which in its early days, left her “giddy with joy.” He proposed marriage on her 34th birthday, as they were preparing to go to the Met Gala, and they were married in Palm Beach at a ceremony attended by “five hundred celebrity guests.”
Readers looking for celebrity-magazine detail will find plenty. She reveals, for example, that her wedding gown had a 13-foot train, 1,500 pearls and rhinestones, and weighed about 60 pounds. In a Catholic tradition, she lit her baptismal candle during the ceremony (the same candle was lit again when their son Barron was baptized in 2006), and Melania walked down the aisle to Schubert’s “Ave Maria” (which was sung at Trump’s second rally in Butler, Pennsylvania).
She then vaults quickly from the honeymoon to her pregnancy and her eventual decision to step aside from modeling to create “a sanctuary at home for my son.” She writes, “The allure of glamorous photo shoots and a jet-setting lifestyle no longer held sway over me, as my heart was captivated by the joy of nurturing and raising Barron.” After her son went to school, however, she writes of her business ventures, including selling jewelry and skin care products, and then, within a few pages, she’s riding down the famous gold escalator with her family, on the way to Donald Trump’s announcement that he would run for president.
“It was a significant moment — a historic moment,” she writes, and that is not hyperbole, although some might say that about her descriptions of “rapturous applause” and a crowd growing “increasingly enthralled” by her husband’s remarks.
Trump opponents who hoped for animosity between husband and wife won’t find any here.
What does Melania Trump think of the media?
She goes on to discuss the campaign, including accusations of plagiarism in her speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016 (”I had relied too much on others in this crucial endeavor,” she says) and how that experience “marked a dramatic escalation in my already fraught relationship with the media.”
“Their relentless criticism, fueled by a palpable hostility, left no room for any attempt at explanation or nuance,” she writes.
Then came the publication of 20-year-old nude photos, which “were not a source of shame for me,” she said, citing different attitudes of Europe and the U.S. when it comes to nudity. She goes on to describe other media coverage that was deeply painful for her, including social media commentary about her son when he was 10, cruelly speculating that he was autistic. (He is not.) “As a parent, it was devastating to see my child targeted in such a way. It felt like my heart was breaking in pieces,” she writes.
The memoir contains an extensive gallery of family photographs, showing Melania Trump with her parents and her sister at various ages, some early modeling shots, and a photo of the Trumps on their first date, and exchanging wedding vows.
In some ways, the photos provide a more intimate look into the former first lady’s life than the words of the memoir. It would be hard for any parent to not relate to the snapshot of Melania holding Barron aloft on his first birthday, both mother and child smiling at each other. These photos offer the Melania most Americans have never seen: unscripted, completely at ease, joyful in her role as a mother.
Is Melania Trump Catholic?
Melania Trump, who became a U.S. citizen in July 2006, the year after she got married, writes about her Catholic faith in the present tense, and said she took a rosary with her when the couple visited the Vatican and met with the pope in 2017. But on the issue of abortion, she splits with the official position of her church, arguing that abortion is sometimes permissible.
“Individual liberty exists at the heart of my core principles and as such, always remains bedrock,” she writes. “Unequivocally, there is no room for negotiation when it comes to this fundamental right that we are all born with: individual liberty. Personal Freedom.”
She goes on to say, “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes. Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body.”
But then she notes, “Timing matters.”
She writes that “legitimate reasons” for abortion include rape, birth defects and severe medical conditions, including risk to the life of the mother, as well as pregnancies resulting from rape or incest — in other words, the sort of exceptions that are often accepted even by people who generally oppose abortion. She makes the case for the historical mantra that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. “As a community, we should embrace these common-sense standards. Again, timing matters.”
She also says that parental consent should be required for juveniles who seek abortion, although “I realize this may not always be possible.” She concludes by saying that “the cultural stigma associated with abortion must be lifted” but says that the slogan “My body, my choice” should apply not only to those who choose abortion, but also those who choose to carry a baby to term.
The final pages of the memoir involve the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, and the first attempt on Trump’s life.
The book closes with an open letter to Americans that she composed on July 14, the day after the shooting in Butler. It may be the best writing in the book. “We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstones of our relationships again,” she writes, concluding, “Thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.”