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During Donald Trump‘s administration, he had Fox News attached at his hip. If he wasn’t appearing on the network for an interview, he was dialed into the TV 24-7. That makes sense as a Republican president in the White House, but his wife, Melania Trump, wasn’t exactly a fan of the cable news network.
According to The New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers’ new book, American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, Melania favored another channel, which led to the classic husband and wife fight over the TV channel. It turns out the former first lady was an avid media consumer, but she wanted to watch CNN, not Fox News, per an excerpt obtained by People.
Rogers described it as “a house divided” as Melania watched the more left-leaning channel “voraciously” while Donald Trump stewed over his wife’s TV preference. The author noted that the fight came to a head in July 2018 when the then-president became “incensed that his wife’s television was tuned to CNN aboard Air Force One during an overseas trip.” Donald Trump demanded that all of the televisions on his plane remain on Fox News from that day forward. Melania did not win that fight.
Yet the former first lady often disagreed with her husband even when it came down to decorating their personal quarters in the White House. She gave into Donald Trump’s preference for “more flashy” items instead of her “modern aesthetic.” He had the final say on everything except for her personal suite that she maintained. He had his quarters, and she had hers.
Melania has always seemed to live a life independent of her husband, and it sounds like she didn’t have the same political views as Donald Trump either. Kate Andersen Brower, the author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, told The New York Times last year that she believes Melania took a “radical” approach to her White House duties. “She’s the most obviously unknowable first lady,” she explained. “First ladies are expected to want to please people and I’m not sure she really cares.”
It’s a philosophy that might also be carrying over to her husband’s 2024 presidential campaign. Melania is nowhere to be seen after mourning the death of her mother, Amalija Knavs, who passed away in January. Donald Trump is promising she will show up on the campaign trail, but it sounds like Melania wants to be left at home, tuned into CNN.
Before you go, click here for more Trump family tell-all books.
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