FORMER US FIRST lady Melania Trump recalled learning that her husband had been shot at by a would-be assassin, describing his near-miss as “a miracle”, in a rare interview that was broadcast on Fox News today.
The wife of former president Donald Trump said she was in New York in July when she saw the news of the attack at a rally in Pennsylvania on television.
“I ran to the TV, and I rewind it. And I watched it. I was only a few minutes behind… But when I saw it… nobody really knew yet because when you see him on the floor and you don’t know, you don’t know what really happened,” she said.
Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet but he suffered no serious injury. One man who was in the audience behind him was killed.
Melania Trump praised her husband’s Secret Service detail – calling the agents “fantastic” despite criticism over the security failure.
Today, members of a Congressional taskforce investigating the assassination attempt emphasised that the Secret Service was responsible for the failures in planning and communication, not local authorities.
Melania Trump also briefly recalled her reaction to the suspected second attempt on her husband’s life at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida on 15 September.
“I think both of the events, they were really miracles. If you really think about it, July 13 was a miracle,” she said.
She also said she felt the first assassination attempt had been brushed aside by the media.
“I had a lot of questions. What’s going on? This is not normal. And is it really shocking that all this outrageous violence goes against my husband?” she said.
“Especially (when) we hear the leaders from the opposition party and mainstream media branding him as a threat to democracy, calling him vile names… This needs to stop. The country needs to unite.”
The reclusive, media-shy former model was giving her first television interview in two years to promote her memoir, which is entitled Melania and comes out on 8 October, less than a month before the presidential election.
While it is common for the spouses of candidates to make campaign appearances and speak at rallies, Trump has avoided them for the most part. She appeared at the Republican National Convention but did not give a speech.
In the interview with Fox, she said her “beautiful letter to America” had effectively been her speech.
She was also absent from her husband’s court hearings in New York, where he was convicted of 34 fraud felonies as part of a scandal involving hush money payments to a porn actress.
She was asked about her husband’s various criminal cases, and she criticized an FBI search at the couple’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2022.
“It made me angry, yes. Invasion of privacy. And the way it was done… I was really surprised,” she said after the bureau entered the property to recover classified documents allegedly stored unlawfully.
She said she told her house manager to leave the house as the FBI agents had left it so she could see what they had done.
“I saw unpleasant stuff that nobody wants to see.”
A signed version of her memoir, accompanied by photographs, will be on sale for $250.
The ex-first lady and other members of Trump’s circle have been criticised over the sheer volume of expensive merchandise they have on sale.
This week the ex-president added a series of $100,000 watches to his list of merchandise, including $100 silver coins made with $30-worth of silver, NFT trading cards, $60 Bibles and $400 runners.
Melania herself was mocked recently over a $600 gold “Vote Freedom” necklace she was selling, branded as “tacky” by daytime TV host and political commentator Ana Navarro.
“Basically, (the) only time Melania shows her face is to extract money from poor suckers,” Navarro said.
With reporting from AFP
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