MELANIA SAYS HER MARRIAGE IS FINE
US first lady dismisses gossip, says she has more important things to focus on
MELANIA Trump dismissed on Friday the widespread talk about her husband President Donald Trump’s reported affairs with a porn star and others, saying she has “more important things to think about”.
Addressing for the first time allegations that have swirled around her husband, the first lady brushed off speculation that her marriage is troubled and insisted she loves life in the US capital.
In an ABC interview, Trump did not deny the many stories of her husband’s philandering. But she also made clear she does not dwell on it. “It is not a concern and focus of mine. I’m a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and do.”
The interview excerpts came after nearly two roller-coaster years in the White House, during which Melania was frequently thought to be on the verge of breaking with Trump, as one woman after another came forth claiming they had been paid to be quiet about their affairs.
But she gave no hint to ABC as to how the stories affected her.
Asked whether she loved her husband, she answered: “Yes, we are fine. It’s what media speculates, and it’s gossip. It’s not always correct stuff.”
In a White House known for its inability to keep secrets, the 48year-old Slovenia-born former fashion model Melania, and Trump’s third wife, remains mysterious and impenetrable to the American public.
She gave the interview while on her first solo trip abroad last week, to Africa where she sought to promote her humanitarian efforts and US Agency for International Development projects.
Sitting in jodhpurs with a safari pith helmet at her side, Melania was poised and confident as she responded to uncomfortable questions on her personal life.
She is not the first lady to suffer gossip about a president’s unfaithfulness. Hillary Clinton endured Bill Clinton’s dalliance with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, and John F. Kennedy was a serial cheater on wife Jackie.
But Donald Trump’s brash behaviour has left his wife constantly under the Washington microscope, facing questions about whether she will leave him and move back to New York with their son Barron.