Where in the world is Melania Trump?

Melaniabsent

Where in the world is Melania Trump? That’s the topic of a dishy piece from the New York Times’s Shawn McCreesh. The First Lady “vanishes from view for weeks at a time, holing up in Trump Tower in Manhattan or in Florida, where she can lie low at Mar-a-Lago,” writes McCreesh. “It’s like having Greta Garbo as first lady.”

Despite staffing up the East Wing, “she rarely goes into the office.” It has been suggested that the First Lady would not be spending much time in Washington during her husband’s second term, preferring to be in New York with her son Barron or down in Florida. However, McCreesh writes, “Even regulars at Mar-a-Lago say they don’t often see Mrs. Trump around the premises.”

With Melania avoiding the capital, her husband’s interior design career has blossomed. “At the White House this time around, Mr. Trump has taken to performing some duties that typically would fall to a first lady,” writes McCreesh. “She’s not the one carefully selecting light fixtures for the White House residence, redesigning the Rose Garden, greeting tour groups in the East Wing or hosting receptions for Women’s History Month. He is.” The Donald’s personal touch explains the “all gold everything” look that the Oval Office has taken on. Last week, the Wall Street Journal branded him “the White House art director, adding golden flourishes to every corner of the government.”

It seems to Cockburn that Mrs. Trump isn’t seeing the upsides of her husband’s Washington. The buzz is back, especially compared to the last few years of Joe Biden’s presidency. Madame First Lady, if you’re reading this: let’s get brunch. The Capital has so much to offer, if you let it…

On our radar

WHITE SOX SMOKE Chicago-born Robert Prevost is the new Pope after being elected in this week’s Conclave. He will be known as Leo XIV and is the first baby boomer pope.

ART OF THE DEAL In a Truth Social post, President Trump said, “The Deal I made today with the United Kingdom is GREAT for our FARMERS and RANCHERS! It’s also wonderful for the United Kingdom.”

CELL MATES Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia signed a bill into law that bans children under 16 from using phones for more than an hour a day.

Judge, jury and…

Judge Jeanine is now Interim US Attorney Jeanine.

President Donald Trump yanked one of his nominees to replace him with someone even more controversial, once it became clear that Ed Martin lacked enough Republican votes to get confirmed to serve as DC’s US Attorney thanks to Senator Thom Tillis.

Martin may have represented some Jan 6-ers and forgot to disclose over 100 appearances on Russian state TV. Enter Judge Jeanine Pirro: best known for her time cheering on MAGA on Fox News. (Cockburn does love her Fox Nation documentary about castles, though.)

It’s not all sour grapes for Martin: Trump appointed him to several nice-sounding jobs at the Justice Department, none of which require Senate confirmation. But this is nothing new: Pirro isn’t the only former TV regular to be an acting US Attorney in Trump’s second term. His lawyer Alina Habba currently serves as the acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey.