What was Melania Trump doing during the Capitol riots?
0:43
(CNN) ––
A photoshoot at the White House: That's what First Lady Melania Trump was doing as thousands of Donald Trump supporters arrived in Washington on Wednesday, heading first to the Ellipse to hear the president and then to the Capitol to besiege the epicenter of American democracy.
Professional lighting, the kind used for high-quality photography and video, could be seen through the windows of the White House.
"They were taking photos of the rugs and other items in the Executive Residence and East Wing (of the White House)," a person familiar with the first lady's activities that day told CNN.
Melania Trump oversaw the photo project, the source said, as her time at the White House runs out.
As reported by CNN, the former has expressed an interest in writing a luxury book about the decorative objects that he accumulated and restored at the White House.
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Just blocks away, insider terrorists swarmed the United States Capitol in a riot incited by her husband earlier that day.
As images of the mob storming the Capitol swept the world, the first lady focused on completing the session.
She was accompanied by the White House chief usher, Timothy Harleth.
Questions about Melania Trump's position
Both the media, including CNN, and her staff members asked whether Melania Trump had plans to tweet a statement of calm or a call to stop the violence.
Something he did several times, a few months ago, during the protests over the murder of George Floyd.
But the first lady did not take that path this time.
On the contrary, the first lady was silent and has remained so.
His disinterest in heading to the country was a sign that he was "on his way out," said another White House source.
In fact, this person added that "she is simply no longer in a mental or emotional place where she wants to get involved."
Except for the furniture.
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Could Trump be sanctioned?
1:37
By Wednesday night, two of the first people he hired as first lady submitted their resignations effective immediately.
One was his chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, who also served as Trump's advisor, speechwriter and closest spokesperson.
The second was Anna Cristina "Rickie" Niceta, White House social secretary.
CNN confirmed that both Grisham and Niceta resigned their positions in large part due to the events on Wednesday.
Much has been said about the influence of the first lady on her husband.
But it was Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter, who held an emergency meeting with him in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
There he urged him to ask for an end to the violence.
Still, the first lady and the president, as CNN has reported, have a close relationship.
Which sometimes surprises those who have interpreted the lewd stories of Trump's alleged adulterous behavior and his physical distance as a sign of displeasure.
Melania Trump speaks by phone during the day with the president, according to sources who have witnessed him from both wings of the White House.
She is also the first to share her thoughts with her husband on national and international issues.
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Now, most of his public statements in recent months have been related to Christmas decorations.
However, on November 8 he forcefully tweeted his support for Trump's unfounded fight against the election results.
"The American people deserve fair elections," wrote the first lady.
“Every legal vote –– not illegal–– should be counted.
We must protect our democracy with full transparency, "he added.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to indicate that she was on his side.
Melania Trump has also not been shy when her views differ from her husband's.
He even tweeted - either on his account or through Grisham as his spokesperson - messages that seemed to disagree with his.
But this week was not one of those occasions.
CNN contacted the East Wing several times, before and after Grisham's departure, to ask for comment on the first lady's considerations on Wednesday's events, or if she had any comments.
Requests were not answered.
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4:28
Trump's eldest sons
Besides the first lady, the other three most influential people in Trump's orbit are his oldest sons, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump.
All of them have echoed their father after his electoral defeat.
In that sense, they asked the Americans to "fight" against what they deemed unfounded as a corrupt election.
Trump Jr. was part of a list of speakers at the Ellipse this Wednesday morning.
And he was more than willing to inflame a group of already blindly loyal and largely enraged supporters.
This rally should send you a message.
This is no longer his Republican Party, "said Trump Jr." This is Donald Trump's Republican Party, "he added.
He also addressed lawmakers during his exaggerated speech, which was peppered with expletives.
You can be a hero or you can be a zero.
And the choice is yours.
But we are all watching.
The whole world is watching, folks.
Choose wisely, "he said.
This is how Trump spoke to his followers before the insurrection 2:18
Eric Trump and his wife Lara also spoke.
They also smiled widely as the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to young Trump, who turned 37.
The couple vehemently defamed the democratic electoral process and the will of the Americans who voted for Joe Biden as president.
The crowd loved it.
"We live in the largest country in the world, and we will never, never, never stop fighting," said Eric Trump.
The word "fight" sparked an anxious crowd that was only a few blocks from where they believed - falsely - their future faced an illegal move by lawmakers.
Shortly after Eric and Lara got off the stage, the Secret Service took them to the airport.
They left behind the anger they helped ignite as they flew back to their million dollar New York home.
The president was also at the rally, of course.
As the keynote speaker, he first saw the crowd on the monitors in a VIP area before taking the stage.
He was with his daughter Ivanka Trump, who did not speak during the event.
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Soon after, Ivanka Trump would be the one who would have the responsibility of pressuring her father to publicly call for a stop to the violence.
But not before sending your own message.
A tweet referring to the Trump supporters who caused the riots as "American Patriots."
"American Patriots: Any breach of security or disrespect for our law enforcement is unacceptable," he wrote.
And he added that the violence must stop.
After being criticized for calling them "patriots," Ivanka Trump deleted her tweet.
In the White House, panic was beginning to reign.
"The president didn't want to listen to people telling him that he should get these people to stop doing this," a White House official told CNN.
"Everyone else was told to leave the room," another source close to Ivanka Trump told CNN.
This, regarding the emergency meeting with the president in the Oval Office.
Several people had called Ivanka Trump.
Both in person at her West Wing office and from the Capitol, where she had multiple contacts.
“The message was: 'President Trump has to tell these people to stop.
He's the only one they'll listen to, '"said the source.
This person pointed out that Ivanka Trump was already more than aware that the agitators were causing irreparable damage.
During their meeting, Ivanka Trump argued that her father should immediately make a televised address to the nation, the source said.
The president had doubts.
Several sources even told CNN that at times he seemed to enjoy watching the chaos he had unleashed spread.
Trump declined the request for an immediate televised speech.
But ultimately, he committed to a bland version of the Rose Garden rebuke, which he later tweeted.
"We love you," he said in a recorded video, addressing the people who forced lawmakers and staff to hide under chairs while fearing for their lives.
"Go home," as if you had stayed too long at dinner.
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"He will do whatever he wants to do," said the source close to Ivanka, regarding the president.
"But if she hadn't been there yesterday, her tweets would have been very different," added the source.
Ivanka Trump has often received public criticism for taking credit for working "behind the scenes" on issues related to the president.
And this time it will probably not be an exception.
But the source told CNN that Wednesday's actions were not "signs of virtue from her."
On Thursday night, in another prerecorded video message, the president publicly admitted for the first time that he will not serve a second term.
Although he did not congratulate Biden.
With his presidency threatened by resignations and possible impeachment, Trump acknowledged that a transfer of power to a new administration is underway.
Ivanka Trump and her brother Don Jr. later retweeted the video.