Melania Trump didn’t make it to the courtroom during Donald Trump’s hush money trial, but she was closer than people realize when the verdict came down.
The former first lady and the couple’s newly graduated son Barron were in Manhattan on Thursday evening.
It’s unknown when Melania and Barron arrived from Florida, but a Page Six source revealed that the mother and son “were smuggled in through the side entrance” of Trump Tower where people close to the former president had “gathered.”
When the guilty verdict came in for all 34 charges, a second insider shared with the media outlet that “it’s like a funeral” at the prestigious New York City address. “Everyone says Melania and the entire family are rallying around the former president,” they added. “But the mood is nonetheless gloomy and gloomier right now. It’s definitely viewed as a downer at Mar-a-Lago.” At the start of the day, “there was hope,” but that positivity quickly vanished when the first guilty verdict was read.
While the family was “upset,” a third source seemed to think it wasn’t as big of a disaster as news reports were making it out to be because they were looking ahead to the presidential election.
“Trump says the real verdict will take place in November when the people vote,” they shared. The Trump family is supporting their father and the former president “talked to both Melania and all his children, including Ivanka,” immediately after the verdict.
Donald Trump’s former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, weighed in on the absence of Melania and Ivanka during the trial and confirmed to CNN that it “absolutely” bugged him. I know it bothers him. That kind of thing would bother him. If Mrs. Trump wasn’t at some event and it was really noted, he would definitely bring it up with her,” she said. “So, I’m sure in this context, it’s definitely really bothering him.” Despite the women’s resistance to publicly supporting Donald Trump after he was convicted of falsifying business documents tied to the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, Ivanka made a public post on her Instagram Story that spoke volumes about where she stands. “I love you dad,” she wrote, along with a red heart emoji.
The Page Six insider seems to think that “the verdict will put a damper on Ivanka’s entry into the campaign, and she’ll probably now wait until the convention.”
There’s no word on what Melania’s next steps are, but she’s more supportive than people think — at least behind the scenes.
The beginning.
In April 2023, lTrump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago hours after he was arraigned in New York on 34 Class E felony charges stemming from the hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Notably absent was Melania Trump, his wife of nearly two decades, who was reportedly still angry about her spouse’s alleged affair* with the porn star and supposedly did not “sympathize” with the fact that he was facing criminal charges and possibly even time in prison. And some 14 months and 34 guilty counts later, her attitude does not appear to have changed, at least when it comes to supporting her husband in public!
Yes, the former first lady, who has not released a formal statement since Thursday’s verdict, did not appear at Trump’s press conference on Friday morning at Trump Tower.
Naturally, no reason was given for her absence—perhaps she simply had prior plans she just could not get out of! If she had made it, though, she would have been treated to one of her husband’s characteristically unhinged rants, roughly 83% of which contained made-up claims.
By Agencies