All posts tagged "melania trump"

MAGA world rattled by Melania's deafening silence on lawmaker's abuse claims: expert

MAGA loyalists were stunned after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were tied to a third abuse scandal, a legal expert said Tuesday.

In an episode of the Legal AF podcast, Popok detailed how Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) has faced calls to resign over allegations that he abused his ex-wife and their daughter — and noted that this wasn't the first time Miller has been accused of abuse.

Popok recalls Stephanie Grisham, former White House communications director during the first Trump administration, who wrote a book and included a chapter about Miller.

"She didn't name him by name, but it was obvious who she was talking about," Popok said. "And later he self-identified, he outed himself and said, 'yeah, I'm the boyfriend in the chapter that she wrote about where she said she was physically abused when they lived together.'"

In the book, Grisham described how Miller allegedly did "terrible physically abusive things to her when Stephanie was leaving the relationship on the day that she was leaving it," Popok explained. "Now, that ended up also confirmed in a Washington Post op-ed piece. This is back in 2023 and 2024. Now, when apparently Stephanie Grisham was friendly with Melania Trump, remember her? Used to be our first lady, barely seen these days. And Melania Trump, according to Grisham in her book, said, you need to go to the police. Where is Melania Trump these days?"

"Besides pointing an angry finger about her connections to the Epstein scandal and saying she doesn't have any and requiring that victims take the oath and testify to Congress before justice is done for Epstein victims, she is strangely silent once again about Max Miller," Popok said.

"If Grisham is telling the truth, and who are you going to believe, Melania Trump or Grisham at this point? And Melania encouraged her to go to the police, then where is she now? It's a deafening silence. It's a roar."

But the reason Grisham gave for not going to the police and reporting Miller, which might have changed the fate of Emily Moreno later marrying Miller, was shocking, Popok explained.

"She, according to Grisham's own autobiography, she told Melania Trump, the reason she wasn't going to the police, get this, it was all political, that she didn't think that the Trump administration needed an abuse scandal while they were campaigning for election," he added.

Trump & Melania Caught Up in Another ABUSE Scandal & Back MAGA Rep Accused of Abusing Wife/Daughter! by Legal AF

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Trump's 'wild jealousy' fueled bizarre smear campaign against legendary actor: biographer

A White House smear against a legendary actor stemmed from a decades-old grudge and wild jealousy, a Trump biographer said.

During an episode of Inside Trump's Head, host Joanna Coles and Trump biographer Michael Wolff tried to explain the White House's smear campaign against actor Richard Gere.

The smear started when White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to Gere's criticism of cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to reporting by The Daily Beast. In a post on X, Cheung brought up a rumor from the 1990s about Gere involving a gerbil.

Gere "long since has gotten past that," Wolff said. However, Wolff had been "puzzled" about what would motivate Cheung to "resurrect such a ridiculous thing" and noted that he "is probably even too young to know this," he said, concluding it was Trump who told Cheung to bring it up.

"The president is mad at Richard Gere," Wolff said. "So, Steven Cheung was assigned this job, his daily assassination here."

Coles suggested, "It was just some sort of wild jealousy that is still lodged somewhere in a file in Donald Trump's brain."

Wolff agreed, saying, "That's the way things happen in the White House. It's Donald Trump who was incensed about Richard Gere, something he saw, something someone said, something he has some association with, with Richard Gere."

He continued, explaining, "Richard Gere is handsomer than he is" and "is ultimately in that Hollywood contest, much more successful than Donald Trump ever was."

Gere was also married to supermodel Cindy Crawford, Wolff noted, "as opposed to Donald Trump marrying Melania, who he pretended was a supermodel, but we know, in fact, wasn't really a model of any great note."

Melania laughed after Trump promised not to air the family's dirty laundry: ex-insider

A former insider described a memory of Melania Trump bursting into laughter when Trump promised to keep a secret.

During an interview on This is Gavin Newsom, ex-Trump ally and former GOP governor Chris Christie recalled a dinner with Trump and Melania long before they were in the White House.

The dinner took place before Christie stepped down as a U.S. attorney in 2008 and after Ivanka Trump met her future husband, Jared Kushner, in 2007. Christie had prosecuted Kushner's father, whom Christie remembered as "the most disgusting defendant" he prosecuted.

During the dinner, Trump asked Christie if he had any dirt on the Kushners. Newsome and Christie noted that Trump at one point wanted Ivanka to date retired NFL star quarterback Tom Brady instead.

"Which I thought was legitimate, like, as a father, my daughter's marrying into this family, like, what the hell," Christie said. "He said to me, 'But I know that you must have more dirt on him that you got in the investigation than you put out there. Can you share that with me so I can use it?'"

Christie said his response was "I can't tell you whether I do or I don't, but let's assume for the sake of argument that I do." He then explained to Trump that federal rules of criminal procedure don't permit him to make any of that information public in any way.

"It's a crime for me to do it," Christie remembered telling Trump. "He leaned over and put his hand on my forearm, and he said, 'Chris, it'll just be between us.' And Melania burst out laughing."

Christie remembered that Melania "looked at me and she said, 'Chris, if this is something that will get you in trouble, don't give it to him because he can't keep a secret.'"

However, Christie added that he was still invited to Ivanka's wedding with Kushner in 2009.

Colbert's Melania impersonator forced to move after doxxing by 'right-wing psychopath'

Laura Benanti, known for her recurring Melania Trump impersonation on Stephen Colbert's Late Show, got doxxed by MAGA loyalists who leaked her home address, The Daily Beast reported.

She described what happened and shared some creepy details about the incident involving her driver on The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi podcast, explaining that the MAGA followers had circulated her personal information in "a threatening email blast."

"This right-wing psychopath sent an email blast to all of his people, being like, 'Hey'—not only my impression, but things I had said and political organizations I was a part of—and he was like, 'Let her know what you think of her.' And then put my f------ address," Benanti said.

She revealed that the leak prompted serious safety concerns for her family.

"I had to literally move," she said.

"We had to move from our apartment that we owned into a rental, and then the pandemic happened. We moved to New Jersey. So we were paying f------ rent and a mortgage," Benanti added. "Someone took a picture of me walking my daughter to school."

Benanti even considered not returning to the show over the threats, saying that if she knew what might have happened she wouldn't have done the impersonation.

"I don't think I would have done it," she said.

She detailed how she discovered the doxxing.

"I had a driver who also did security," she said. "And he was MAGA… He was a part of this newsletter—he received emails from this guy!"

'High-fashion fiction': fawning Trump adviser shredded for praising First Lady

First Lady Melania Trump's close adviser Marc Beckman was ripped online Thursday after praising her work during a live broadcast.

Beckman, a longtime loyal aide to the first lady, spoke with Real America's Voice on Rumble about how her self-titled film and book "Melania" has fueled her energy to focus on children.

"This is the most active, the most productive, the most direct vision for a First Lady I think in the history of America," Beckman said.

Critics online didn't agree.

"Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams, Dolly Madison [SIC], Rosalynn Carter and so many others worked tirelessly to do great things for people," Ron Filipkowski, MeidasTouch editor and attorney, wrote on X. "Melania shows up once a month and badly reads a speech someone wrote for her before returning to pampered luxury."

X user Bucky, who self-describes as a "fierce defender of democracy" and has more than 3,500 followers, shared on X some snark directed at Beckman and the First Lady.

"Oh, darling, the absolute bravado of a Madison Avenue rebrand," wrote Bucky. "It is simply magnificent. To watch Marc Beckman breeze onto the airwaves and declare Melania to be the most industrious First Lady since the dawn of the republic is high-fashion fiction at its absolute finest."

"Marc Beckman is not Melania Trump’s 'senior advisor,' he is Melania’s 'PR Propaganda Pusher,'" political commentator Barry Phillips, a retired attorney and CPA, wrote on X.

"Marc Beckman must be really profiting from his position as senior adviser to Melania Trump. What does he advise her on, shoes? She is the WORST First Lady we have ever had and the nude photos don't dignify her. He should be ashamed of himself for lying so dastardly," progressive political commentator Josephine Imperato, who has more than 25,000 followers, wrote on Bluesky.

Oh, darling, the absolute bravado of a Madison Avenue rebrand! It is simply magnificent. To watch Marc Beckman breeze onto the airwaves and declare Melania to be the most industrious First Lady since the dawn of the republic is high-fashion fiction at its absolute finest. https://t.co/MiIIOT2CwJ
— Bucky (@BuckyNoseBest) July 1, 2026

MAGA melts down after Melania Trump defends Supreme Court ruling: 'I've lost respect'

MAGA followers were livid after first lady Melania Trump issued a rare statement voicing her support for the LGBTQ+ community on Tuesday.

Trump shared her comments in a post on X following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold laws in West Virginia and Idaho that bar transgender girls from female school sports. The ruling was considered a setback for the transgender community, according to The Associated Press.

In her statement, Trump cited an excerpt from her own self-titled book "Melania" — and the page number.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has now legally confirmed this opinion: 'Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females? ... The answer is yes.' America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also protect opportunities for female athletes. Respect everyone and keep girls' sports fair. Both ideals are essential," Trump wrote.

Loyal MAGA fans expressed their outrage in response to the first lady's comments.

"What is ideal about men claiming they can become women? What in that do you actually support?" User Debbie, who self-describes as "MAGA," wrote on X.

"I support the trans community getting the mental health treatment they need to recognize they are not members of the opposite sex," Matt Van Swol, a MAGA commentator and former nuclear scientist for the U.S. Department of Energy with more than 527,000 followers, wrote on X.

"Wrong," the account The Waitress, which frequently posts MAGA-related content, wrote on X.

"Respectfully, I don’t want my FLOTUS to support a community of people with a severe mental illness. They need God, and mental help," user JJ, who self-describes as "MAGA" and "America First," wrote on X.

"I’m thoroughly disappointed with this post. LGTBQ+ (sic) (alphabet soup) is an Anti-God movement. Sorry to say, but I’ve lost respect," user Lori Smith, who self-identifies as a "small business owner" and often shares Trump-related content, wrote on X.

Melania resisted Trump's White House overhaul only to end up 'very unhappy': commentators

First Lady Melania Trump fought against Trump's overhaul of the White House and lost, according to commentators.

During an episode of the Daily Beast Podcast, host Joanna Coles and Hugh Dougherty, the executive editor of The Daily Beast, went over more revelations in the book Regime Change, an account of the Trump White House by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

Last year, Trump paved over the Rose Garden. According to Dougherty, the book reveals that the First Lady's team relayed that she was "very unhappy" with the changes, and only secured a few compromises, like getting Trump to keep the rose bushes.

"It turns out he wanted to pave over the whole lot," Dougherty said, relaying details from the book. "He wanted the roses gone as well."

A similar scene unfolded with the demolition of the East Wing, which Trump tore down to make way for a ballroom. Trump's team knew "that this was not going to make the First Lady happy, but it still went ahead," according to Dougherty.

"I think there's a lot to digest about their marriage," Dougherty said, adding that he has questions about "what came back from the First Lady's team? Is that how they communicate? There's lots more to know."

Coles and Dougherty also talked about details that came up in the book about Melania and Trump's separate bedrooms and descriptions of how White House staff "have to clean up because he leaves discarded detritus from his fast food habit on the floor," Dougherty said.

Trump's biographer exposes Trump as 'totally alone figure' with no intimate life: report

President Donald Trump's biographer detailed the truth about the president's sex life, The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday.

During a conversation on the "Inside Trump’s Head" podcast on Tuesday night, author Michael Wolff described how Trump's Playboy life has long ended and he is now more isolated. And although the 80-year-old president is married, the biographer alleged "he hasn’t gotten any action in years—especially from his wife."

"He is in this White House… this totally alone figure without any kind of… basic warmth," Wolff told podcast co-host Joanna Coles. "Even the people who are… the familiar faces are familiar only on a professional basis."

"I mean, in the first administration, he had Hope Hicks, who really tended to him. And now he has this woman, Natalie Harp,” Wolff said. "But he functions essentially… like an old-time monarch, you know. Who has… married someone for political reasons… as was done. And there was really no pretense of a… domestic life, and then he’s tended to by factotums."

Hicks served in Trump's first campaign and was White House Communications Director during his first administration, Wolff said. She later testified against him and for the prosecution in the hush money criminal trial in 2024. In her testimony, she described how Trump wanted to cover up his affairs with adult performer Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Harp has been one of Trump's closest aides in his second administration and there are questions about the nature of their relationship, Wolff explained.

"Natalie Harp, you know, has become—as Hope Hicks was—this kind of curious person in his life. We don’t really understand that relationship," Wolff said. "She appears to be hopelessly in love with him, and we’ve seen a series of… cringeworthy letters that she has written him."

Trump apparently has separate sleeping arrangements from his wife, Melania — both at the White House and at their Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

“But, you know… I think that… he’s generally regarded among his staff as… post-sexual,” Wolff said. “There is, at least, nobody who is… rushing to say, nor whispering, that he has a relationship—a sexual relationship—with anyone.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to The Beast with the following statement:

“Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s--- and has been proven to be a fraud. He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain," Cheung said in the statement.

'Damning' omission in NYT's massive Epstein report flagged by journalist

A veteran national security blogger is calling foul on the New York Times' latest sprawling Epstein dive over one curious omission.

The name "Melania" does not appear anywhere in Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's roughly 8,000-word piece detailing the White House's panicked response to the Epstein files, longtime legal commentator Marcy Wheeler pointed out on her Emptywheel blog on Thursday.

Wheeler argued the absence was "especially damning" because Haberman herself co-wrote a July 2019 NYT story noting that Epstein had bragged since Trump's election that he was the one who introduced the future president to his third wife. The 2019 piece, co-bylined by Annie Karni and Haberman, plainly mentioned Epstein's claim.

"Instead, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan give us t---, a bulls-- claim that the White House was panicked about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files primarily because a woman had claimed Trump abused a girl’s nipples until they hurt," wrote Wheeler.

The Melania question has since become a legal battle.

Earlier this year, an FBI document from a 2019 witness interview stated that "Epstein introduced Melania Trump to Donald Trump," an accusation Melania aggressively pushed back against, insisting in an April news conference that she met Trump "by chance" at a 1998 party. The first lady has threatened multi-billion-dollar defamation suits against journalists and authors who repeat the Epstein connection, including biographer Michael Wolff and Hunter Biden.

Wheeler argued The Times piece pursued other detail-rich angles, such as a passage on the strategy of having acting Attorney General Todd Blanche interview Ghislaine Maxwell, while leaving the explosive personal Trump-Epstein link untouched.

"With Maggie especially, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether she is deliberately crafting her narrative in service to clients, or whether she is just easily snookered by her sources," Wheeler railed.

MAGA judge mistakenly 'ruled against the Trumps' in Melania Epstein case: biographer

Trump biographer Michael Wolff remains unfazed after a MAGA-appointed federal judge tossed his lawsuit against Melania Trump on Friday.

"She may have actually effectively ruled against the Trumps without saying so," Wolff said in a podcast episode on Saturday, referring to the federal judge who dismissed his suit against Melania. "Kicking the case out of federal court by default puts it back into state court, which is what we wanted in the first place."

Wolff sued the first lady last year after her lawyers threatened him with a defamation lawsuit because he connected her to Jeffrey Epstein.

On Friday, New York-based U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, accused Wolff in a scathing opinion of trying to go around the standard legal process by pre-emptively suing Melania instead of defending himself against her lawsuit.

"I mean, we knew from the beginning, when we drew a Trump judge in federal court in the Southern District in New York, that that was problematic," Wolff said. "She was in this incredibly awkward position of having to decide a case directly involving the president's family."

According to Wolff, he filed his lawsuit in a New York state court, but Melania's lawyers moved it to federal court. Vyskocil then determined that Melania is a Florida resident.

"One of the ways you get to be a federal case is if the parties are from two different states," the New York-based Wolff explained. "This is an important point because if the judge found that she doesn't live in Florida, then it would not have been a federal case."

Wolff said he would have preferred to see the case play out in a New York state court because of "what are called anti-SLAPP laws, which is to say that you can't use threats of libel to intimidate people."

From what he can tell, Melania "lives in New York" and "never effectively moved out of Trump Tower."

He added, "This is and has always been, from our side, a free speech case. It's not about money."