In her new memoir, Melania Trump recalls responding to a harrowing phone call from her chief of staff who told her a madman had tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
“I rushed to the TV and pressed play. I couldn't believe what I was seeing,” the former first lady writes in “Melania,” released Tuesday and obtained by the Post. .
The philanthropy founder was at her home in Bedminster, New Jersey, with her 18-year-old son Barron on July 13 when the shooting occurred.
Melania wrote that a bullet grazed her husband's ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and then she watched in horror as her husband crouched under the podium and Secret Service agents swarmed him. There is.
“I watched the chaos unfold as gunshots rang out and Donald instinctively reached for his head,” she wrote, before seeing the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. He said he saw Secret Service agents take action to protect the president after the gunfire. He fired eight shots at the Republican presidential candidate within six seconds. Crooks himself was then shot and killed by a sniper.
At the time, an incredulous Melania asked her chief of staff: “'He's on the ground,' I cried. 'Are you sure he's okay?'
She hung up and immediately called her husband. When he didn't respond, she called Secret Service personnel. they were in the hospital.
“After what felt like an eternity,” they connected her with the former president.
“'I'm okay,' he assured me. It wasn't until I heard his voice that I could finally believe that he really was okay,” she wrote of the traumatic ordeal. are.
In his memoir, the former FLOTUS also describes his experiences leaving the Oval Office, including the August 2022 Mar-a-Lago attack when FBI agents swarmed the former Trump residence in Palm Beach, Florida, seeking classified documents. The details will be revealed later.
As a result of this incident, in June 2023, the former president was charged with 37 criminal charges for allegedly keeping more than 100 classified documents. Charges against the former president related to the incident were later dismissed by a judge in July.
Melania, a 54-year-old Slovenian-American former fashion model who served as first lady from 2017 to 2021, detailed in her memoir how she felt “violated” by the FBI raid. are.
She also shares her views on pressing issues such as abortion and trans women in sport, and details her modeling career and ties to the British royal family.
Melania reveals in the book that she was shocked after the assassination attempt but had to share the news with Donald's only son, Barron.
She described how the footage was played on a loop on the TV and she and Barron watched it over and over again.
“Can you explain how traumatic it is for a child to witness the attempted murder of his father? The relentless repetition of footage of the rally on the news has only intensified our anxiety,” she wrote. There is.
“Every time I saw Donald's bloody face, I had to remind myself that I had actually talked to him, heard his voice, and knew he was safe.”
Hours before she was shot, Melania revealed that she had told her husband ahead of a rally: “Good luck and be safe.”
When Trump returned to his Bedminster home at 2 a.m. the next morning, first lady Melania Trump spoke of her relief after her husband's near-death experience. She later wrote that the incident was “tragic and surreal,” in a letter she drafted to the American people on July 14, 2024. is called a “monster”.
“Let us not forget that different opinions, policies and political maneuvering are inferior to love…Compared to us humans, political concepts are simple,” she wrote in her memoir, first published I wrote it in a letter.
A second would-be gunman who hid at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September after Crooks attempted to kill President Trump, also survived. Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after a Secret Service scout noticed his gun, was intercepted, and tried to flee the scene before he had a chance to fire.
Melania, who was born Melania Knaus in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, also writes about how she rose to achieve the American dream in her book. She was born to Victor Knahus, a Yugoslav military driver and car salesman, and Amalia Knahus, a patternmaker. introduced fashion to her daughter When I was young.
Melania recalls arriving in New York to work at Metropolitan Models on August 27, 1996 with two suitcases and a carry-on.
“Are you coming to New York? That was my moment,” she writes, emphasizing that becoming an American citizen ten years later, in 2006, was also a pivotal point. She also said that her experience with the challenges of the immigration process “opened my eyes” to how long and complicated the immigration process is for people immigrating to the United States.
Melania secured a work visa and booked appointments with high-profile clients Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. She also details how she met Donald in 1998 and later bonded over their mutual love of Elvis Presley and Elton John.
First Lady Melania writes how she tried to stay 'low-key' while reporters hounded Donald
“Always” in a publicized relationship.
“I've never been an attention seeker, so I tried to keep our time together as low-key as possible,” she wrote.
But gossip writers still attacked her because of their 24-year age difference, she wrote.
“I was labeled a 'gold digger' in the gossip columns,” she claims, but added that such “baseless accusations” should not affect her relationship with Donald. Melania also said that before she met her husband, she was already successful and wealthy in her career and could have “easily attracted the attention of numerous celebrities” if she wanted to. pointed out.
The couple wed on January 22, 2005 at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Church in Palm Beach, Florida, followed by a lavish Palm Beach reception at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion, where Shaquille and O'Neal, boxing promoter Don King, former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and former New York Governor George Pataki.
Former first lady writes how she understands the scrutiny her family was subjected to while in the White House, but has preferred to stay out of the public eye since President Trump left office said.
“after that, [FBI] “When the attack occurred, I became increasingly concerned,” she wrote about their safety and how much privacy they actually enjoyed.
Melania has grown accustomed to what she called “relentless” political attacks on her family, but said the FBI raid seemed personal and unlike anything she ever imagined would happen in the United States. She called this a “serious violation” that affected her, Donald and Barron.
Melania likened the experience to her childhood “growing up under a communist regime” under “extensive state surveillance.” Recalling those days, she writes about how her father's car was monitored and reported to the Slovenian police. Despite a Slovenian journalist falsely reporting that her father was in prison, the investigation “came to no avail,” Melania wrote.
Melania also elaborated on her stance on hot-button issues, including transgender people in sports, and when male-born athletes compete against women.
She writes about the advantages of the male body, including height, bone density, and strength, which she says can have an impact even at the high school level.
She says even one biological male could change the balance of women's sports, impacting things like future earning potential as professional athletes and the issue of equal pay in sports. It is written.
First Lady Melania also reiterated her support for the community, adding: “I fully support the LGBTQIA+ community, but we must ensure that female athletes are protected and respected.”
Melania also detailed her second meeting with Queen Elizabeth II over tea, scones and her beloved corgi before her death in September 2022.
“We really connected and I was so happy to have the opportunity to see her again,” Melania wrote.
The former FLOTUS said the Queen and her family “gave us a warm welcome” despite the “turbulent backdrop of British politics” at the time, when Brexit took hold and there was a change of leadership in Downing Street. It is written down. It was noted that Queen Elizabeth gifted her with a custom-made silver box with an enamel lid made to resemble the ceiling motif of the music room at Buckingham Palace.
“Our friendship with the royal family continues and we still exchange letters with King Charles to this day,” she wrote.
“Melania” will be available at bookstores from October 8th (Tuesday).
