After two decades of friendship, and the privilege of serving on Mrs. Trump’s White House team, I am thrilled about the upcoming release of her memoir, “Melania.” It’s time for her to share her story, unfiltered. However, I can no longer stand by silently as self-proclaimed “experts” continue to comment on her thoughts, statements, and actions – particularly those driven by malice and financial gain. The media machine thrives on the “hate-Trump” sentiment, attracting individuals seeking relevance, fame, personal agendas, or a quick buck. Mrs. Trump’s response to this onslaught – a quiet indifference except for the most egregious attacks – is unsurprising to those who know her. She is a woman of exceptional strength, grace, and resilience, a devoted mother, wife, daughter, and friend.
The vitriol directed at her is likely to intensify ahead of the October 8th release of her memoir. Yet, I remain hopeful that the public will finally have the opportunity to hear her story directly and understand the remarkable woman I am fortunate to call my friend.
In my role as an advisor to Mrs. Trump in the White House, I witnessed firsthand many of the moments that have since been distorted in books, tweets, and interviews by former staffers. The discrepancy between the truth I observed and the skewed narrative being promoted is appalling. Take, for example, the relentless criticisms from a former staffer, who claims to have been a close friend, but has since dedicated herself to promoting her own image while attacking Melania. Following the termination of her White House contract (my own contract ended at the same time), she published a one-sided account of her time with the former first lady, admitting to secretly recording personal phone conversations with Mrs. Trump, a shocking breach of trust and ethics.
After leaving the White House, this individual continued her campaign to disparage Mrs. Trump, seemingly motivated by a desire to sell her book and settle imagined personal scores. She, like other former Trump allies, positioned herself as the go-to expert on a woman she hadn’t spoken to in over seven years. Her hateful tweets, like questioning Melania’s absence from the campaign trail last fall, are revealing. When Mrs. Trump told reporters to “Stay tuned” regarding her campaign plans, this former staffer predictably responded with a tweet: “Let me interpret this for you: DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATHE! [sic]”. How could she possibly know, or anything else about the former first lady? She was so out of the loop that she wasn’t even aware Mrs. Trump was caring for her dying mother at the time. So much for expertise.
Then there is Mrs. Trump’s former White House press secretary, who also seems determined to become the Left’s expert on Melania. This, after writing a self-congratulatory book that attacked her former boss while auditioning for a “conservative” spot on ABC’s “The View.” This former “insider” is the same individual who, embarrassingly, couldn’t correctly explain to reporters in 2018 why the first lady wore the now-famous Zara jacket with its bold logo – “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” – during a flight to visit migrant children detained at the Texas border. The press secretary told reporters: “It’s just a jacket. There was no hidden message.” How could she not know that the first lady was intentionally sending a message to her critics with that jacket, and it wasn’t about the children? If she lacked understanding of Mrs. Trump while working for her, how can she claim expertise now, having no access to her for years?
It was the former first lady herself who clarified the situation and mended the damage. Melania told an ABC News interviewer that the jacket was “kind of a message, yes,” directed at her critics: “I want to show them that I don’t care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.”
Sadly, we have rarely seen positive coverage of Melania’s accomplishments. She has seldom been recognized or given credit for the significant initiatives she championed during her four years as first lady and in the years since. As first lady, she dedicated herself to raising awareness about the opioid crisis and its impact on families, visiting Lily’s Place, a treatment center in Huntington, West Virginia. She spearheaded “Be Best,” a campaign aimed at improving children’s well-being and emotional intelligence in education, which included her work against cyberbullying in schools. Since leaving the White House, she has created “Fostering the Future,” a foundation dedicated to raising college scholarship funds for former foster children. Since its inception, “Fostering the Future” has awarded scholarships to numerous students. You probably haven’t heard much about it.
When consuming news, just like any other product, the old adage “buyer beware” is more relevant than ever. Media consumers must approach political information with a critical eye, seek out reliable sources, and question the credibility of self-proclaimed experts. Otherwise, we may discover that our freedoms and way of life have been put up for sale. As a wise person once said, “Consider the source.”
Pamela Gross was Editorial Producer for “Piers Morgan Live” and “CNN Tonight with Don Lemon” from 2010 to 2017. She served as a trusted advisor to First Lady Melania Trump in the White House in 2017.
