The magical remaking of Melania Trump

Of all the images that emerged from the new administration last week, few were as meaningful and portentous as Melania Trump in oversized aviators and snug black cap in North Carolina with her husband, Friday morning, to inspect the damage remaining from Hurricane Helene back in November. 

Mrs. Trump, it seems, had actually wanted to travel to California, where she and the president later landed to perform a similarly styled wellness check on wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles. But Trump insisted North Carolina come first — both to show off his return to presidential posturing as well as to highlight the abandonment many North Carolinans believe they’ve endured at the hands of FEMA and the Biden administration. Thus the first lady got right to work in her first week back on the job — but oh how different she is performing.  

Back in Trump 1.0, Melania was mostly known for either her elusiveness — weeks without public appearances — or unmistakable disdain for her role as first lady. Who can forget Melania chidingly slapping her husband as he tried to hold her hand during their arrival to Tel Aviv in May 2017? Or the scene-stealing “I really don’t care, do you?” jacket she wore during a 2018 migrant facility tour in Texas. The optics and messaging were clear: back off — I’m on my own journey with this whole first lady thing. 

Last week, however, Melania was channeling unmistakable #unitedfront vibes as she begins to embrace being half of the world’s most powerful power couple. She was certainly dressed for the part: first in a hip, olive-colored puffer coat on the east coast followed by a lightweight “utility” jacket upon alighting in Los Angeles. Paired with simple black leggings and sturdy black utility boots, the look felt respectful, yet mildly blingy — a dash “working royal,” a tad disaster-safari and entirely statement-making. 

It’s too early, of course, to decipher the exact statement Melania is hoping to make — either with last week’s trip or this week’s new official first lady portrait — but that’s the point. Having made so few statements during her first run, Mrs. Trump — simply by boarding Air Force One on Friday — was saying make room, lots of it. Not only is she ready to claim her rightful space as first lady, Melania is finally ready to be a first spouse. She appeared totally aligned with the president on Friday, deftly maintaining her own center of gravity without overshadowing her husband. 

She’s also good for the president; he’s different around his wife. Although still commanding and commandeering — note the marching orders he barked at Los Angeles’s embattled mayor Karen Bass — Melania softens the president’s ever-present air of impunity. He looks to her for approval and guidance; hers is an opinion that finally matters. And in this she renders a man so many believe so inhumane actually mortal and human.  

We’ve seen a lot of Melania these past few months. She was an unanticipated presence at the end of the presidential campaign and followed up her husband’s win with a series of strategic news appearances. There was a relatively successful autobiography in the autumn and news earlier this month of a forthcoming “inside the life of” documentary sold to Amazon Studios for a hefty $40 million. Unburdened from the constraints of either a grueling reelection or raising her son, Barron — now at university in New York — Melania is ready for her “me” moment. Her husband is probably thinking “thank God — what took you so long!”

Maybe because she’s European or perhaps owing to her innate ease with fashion, Melania also delivers a much needed dose of sophistication to Trump world. But unlike Michelle Obama — who became a fashion sensation for the designers she wore and elevated — Melania relies far more on sex appeal than a mastery of aesthetics. Mrs. Obama may have been a wellness fan and fitness fanatic, but Mrs. Trump — with those Skimsy black leggings — is far more of a show-off. She’s confident without being chatty, offering consolatory kisses to California governor Gavin Newsom after his tarmac take-down by the president in Southern California. Gone is the ice queen persona — replaced by pull-yourself-together ice packs to reduce the swelling of her husband’s latest casualty.

In less than a week, Melania Trump has managed to reinvent herself with remarkable ease and efficiency. True, she still may have a ways to go. But it’s very early days for Trump 2.0, and the president’s team also needs to figure out how to best utilize a Mrs. Trump so readily (and unexpectedly) at their disposal. There’s a learning curve to conquer for all sides as Mrs. Trump considers just how far a rise she can handle — all too aware of the pitfalls waiting for her at the other side.