 "Former US First Lady Melania Trump arrives on Day 4 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on July 18. Her absence from the Trump campaign has raised many questions. Reuters")
Is all well between Donald and Melania Trump? It’s a question that continues to crop up. While spouses of US presidential and vice presidential candidates regularly campaign for them, Melania Trump has been conspicuous by her absence.
This year, the former First Lady has hardly been seen by her husband’s side as he aims for a second presidential bid. For the rare public appearances that she had made, she has received a paycheck – an amount that is quite steep, reports CNN.
We take a look at why this has raised eyebrows.
The row over payment to Melania Trump
This year, Melania attended two political fundraisers for the Log Cabin Republicans in Palm Beach, Florida. For an April event where she spoke with a Republican LGBT+ group, she received $237,500 (Rs 1.9 crore), Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure revealed.
Another fundraiser for Log Cabin, which claims to be the largest organisation representing LGBT conservatives and straight allies, was held in July. A request was made to a donor about a similar payment. However, it is unclear if Mrs Trump was paid for this engagement.
And who paid Melania? That remains a mystery too. While Trump’s disclosure form said that she was paid by Log Cabin Republicans for the April engagement, Charles Moran, the president of the group, told CNN earlier this month that it did not pay the former first lady.
Experts say that it is unusual for spouses of political candidates to be paid for an appearance in an election year.
Kate Brower, a political author told CNN, that it was not unusual for a former first lady to earn six figures for a speaking event. “But it is unusual during a campaign season and then for us not to understand where the money is coming from is also very unusual,” she said.
The payment also raises questions about conflict of interest and ethics. Trump could be in trouble if the source of payment declared in his disclosure is incorrect.
A spokesperson for Mrs Trump has not commented on the matter.
This is not the first time Melania has received payment for speaking. After the former president announced he was running again, she received three payments of $250,000 (Rs 2.09 crore) and above, including one from Log Cabin Republicans in December 2022, according to Trump’s financial disclosure form.
The former first lady was also paid $155,000 (Rs 1.29 crore) by Make America Great Again, Again, a political action committee, aligned with Trump in December 2021 for a speech in Palm Beach. This was before he announced his re-election.
However, it is this year’s events which are under the scanner. It has also brought attention to her little efforts to campaign for Trump .
Melania’s support for Trump
Melania has been largely absent as her husband campaigns for the White House. Apart from the two Log Cabin Republican speeches, she has appeared alongside Trump at a fundraiser hosted by billionaire investor John Paulson in Palm Beach in April this year. There is no indication that she was paid for this.
She also made a brief appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July on the day Trump gave his speech. She joined him on stage wearing red, the Republican colour, and her walk seemed like she was on a ramp than a political event. While Trump greeted her with a hug and the couple kissed on the cheek, Melania appeared distant. The former first lady did not speak at the convention like she did in 2016.
Her absence throughout the RNC raised many eyebrows. It’s tradition for spouses to speak at such gatherings. It was more shocking because Trump had been shot only days ago.
Mrs Trump also skipped her husband’s debate against US President Joe Biden in June. She was not seen at his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month either.
However, Melania has been releasing stylised short videos, which show her talking to the camera, on her social media feeds. Trump has been repositing these on his social networks. She has spoken about the assassination attempt on him in Pennsylvania , free speech and efforts to “silence” her husband, and motherhood. In her most recent video posted last week, she defended her previous nude modelling work.
But behind all of this, Mrs Trump has a personal agenda – promoting her memoir called “Melania” which is coming out on October 8.
In the post, where she spoke about the shooting at the Trump rally, she says, “There is definitely more to this story and we need to uncover the truth.” She links it to melaniatrump.com where the book can be pre-ordered.
Apart from this Melania has kept to herself. Leave alone the campaign, she was not by her husband’s side at the hush money trial in Manhattan.
Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump White House press secretary and top aide to Melania Trump, told CNN, “She’s been so disconnected with this campaign and so absent that I could see her saying, ‘If I’m going to put my time in, I will get paid for this.’”
That could explain the quarter-million dollars she received to speak to a group of gay Republicans.
It makes us wonder if something is amiss. Trump allies insist all is well.
With inputs from agencies