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Melania Trump, First Lady
"I don't always think it's okay how he says something."
Hillary Clinton ... (1993-2001)
Laura Bush ... (2001-2009)
Michelle Obama ... (2009-2017)
Melania Trump (2017-2021)
The office of First Lady is - especially in the USA - traditionally occupied with glamor.
The past four years have shown that not every President's wife looks like she was born for the role.
With the term of office of - by his own admission - the best US president of all time, the work of a very special first lady ends.
Right from the start it looked like Melania Trump wasn't enjoying her public role that much.
This was evident the day before her husband was sworn in.
Donald Trump
"Would you like to say a little too?"
She didn't have a choice.
Melania Trump
“It's great to be here.
Thank you for your support.
Our work begins tomorrow.
I have a great responsibility and I have a lot to take care of.
We're going to make America great again. "
The "we" fell by the wayside in the first few months.
Every now and then, Melania Trump seemed to want something different from her husband.
And otherwise the first lady was occasionally lacking a little sensitivity.
For example during her Africa tour in 2018) when she visited Ghana and Kenya for the first time on a long trip without the President.
Of course, the cute baby elephant for the cameras couldn't be missing.
But what Melania Trump would have better left in her suitcase: The colonial-style safari hat.
For whom - you could have guessed it - there was criticism.
A little later, a trip to the Mexican border followed.
Melania, herself with Slovenian roots, carried a Parker on the way there with the inscription "I really don't care - do u?"
Why she did that remained her secret.
The fact that thousands of Mexican children were separated from their parents after crossing the border was and is certainly
not
indifferent to
many
.
But after all, everyone allows themselves one or two faux pas.
And Melania Trump always tried to fulfill her duties in the White House - even if a first lady officially has no duties.
She found joy in organizing colorful Halloween parties, fun Easter games and of course in presenting the opulent Christmas decorations every year.
Until last year the recording of a phone call that she had with one of her former advisors in 2018 was published.
Melania Trump, First Lady
“I'm working my ass off with Christmas stuff.
Who cares about this Christmas stuff and the decorations?
But I have to do it, right? "
Consultant:
»One hundred percent.
You have no choice."
Melania Trump:
“And then I'll do that and I'll tell everyone I'm working on the Christmas planning.
And then they say, 'Oh, what about the kids who were separated from their parents?' Leave me the damned alone! "
Will her successor Jill Biden swear similarly about her job one day?
Possible.
It is still difficult to imagine.
Jill Biden, future US First Lady
"Are you ready to tell Donald Trump: 'You are fired'?"
Melania Trump has meanwhile said goodbye in an official statement.
"It was the greatest honor of my life to serve you as first lady," she writes in it.
The US broadcaster CNN, however, quoted a source from Melania Trump's environment as early as early December, saying that the first lady “just wanted to go home”.