As the most stunning First Lady, Melania Trump has influenced many lives, and now looks forward to the next chapter of her life.
Story by Terry Check
As reported by NBC News on February 20, 2018, “Model, first lady: Melania Trump conspicuously absent from magazine covers. There’s a clear reluctance among editors to put themselves in the cross-hairs of culture wars by featuring Melania, but it’s not clear they could, even if they wanted to”.
While the First Lady Michelle Obama graced the covers of at least twenty magazine covers, First Lady Melania Trump seldom appeared on a magazine cover story until now. Masquerade Magazine has decided to publish an expose sharing the highlights of the First Lady during her tenure in the White House, and an insight into her next chapter.
As a youngster, Melania Knavs, 30 years later, Melania Trump, helped her mother, a patternmaker, in fashion shows for a children’s clothing manufacturer in Slovenia. After being discovered by a fashion photographer, she appeared in commercials, then signed with a Milan model agency when she was 18. After modeling for a few years in Paris and Milan, Melania moved to New York City in 1996 pursing modeling and appearing on the cover of several magazines: Glamour, Vogue, Vanity Fair, In Style and Harper’s Bazaar. After marrying Donald Trump in 2006, she launched jewelry and skin care lines labeled Melania Timepieces & Jewelry and Melania Skin Care Collection, respectfully. In 2016, Mrs. Trump decided to campaign with her husband who became the 45th President of the United States, and became the first lady (FLOTUS), code named “Muse” by the secret service.
COVID-19:The world is suffering a pandemic infecting nearly 70 million people taking the lives of more than 1.6 million. Whether you are rich or poor, famous or not, the virus can strike. The First Lady, Melania Trump mentioned earlierlastyear, “It was two weeks ago when I received the diagnosis that so many Americans across our country and the world had already received—I tested positive for COVID-19. To make matters worse, my husband, our nation’s Commander-in-Chief, received the same news.”Then a few days later her son, Barron, was also diagnosed with the virus.
Fortunately, Mrs. Trump experienced minimal symptoms of headaches, coughing and extreme fatigue for several days before making a full recovery like the President and their son, Barron. From her perspective the First Lady reflected, “For me personally, the most impactful part of my recovery was the opportunity to reflect on many things—family, friendships, my work, and staying true to who you are.”Using the CDC guidelines for containing the virus, tireless efforts of countless first responders and the President’s Operation Warp Speed responsible for quickly developing vaccines,Mrs. Trump was thankful to all Americans who are working together to fight COVID-19, the worst pandemic in over 100 years.
BE BESTCampaign:Dedicated to helping children,Melania Trumphas developed a world-wide program, BE BEST, encouraging children to be their best while teaching them the “importance of social, emotional and physical health”. The program has been built on three pillars: well-being, online safety, and avoidance of opioid abuse. “When we teach our children to cherish our values and care for each other, they are better prepared to carry on Americans’ legacy of compassion, service and patriotism,” echoes Melania Trump when asked about the pillar of well-being.
For the online safety, the second pillar of BE BEST, the First Lady believes, ““By teaching our children uplifting, positive, and respectful online interactions, we take them one step closer tosafer lives and the incredible futures that await them.” When speaking, whether with their voices or online, children should always choose their words wisely and understand how their voices affect others.
Besides the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an ongoing opioid pandemic creating dependence, addiction and abuse among adults and children. “Promoting education and awareness is crucial to overcoming this drug epidemic. If we continue to work together, I know we can create a safer, healthier, and more hopeful world for our children,” Mrs. Trump articulates as the third pillar of Be Best.
With the success of BE BEST in the United States, Melania Trump expanded the program, BE BEST International, to counties beyond our borders. When traveling to Japan, India, Belgium, Finland and United Kingdom, the First Lady spoke about the importance of social, emotional, and physical health regarding young people. During her first solo international trip to Africa, she brought good will to a children’s hospital in Ghana, a primary school in Malawi and the Nest Children’s Home in Kenya.
Without a doubt, Mrs. Trump has been a crusader for children, yet she received unwarranted backlash from the media when arriving at Andrews Air Force Base wearing a jacket with a hand written message to the press stating “I Really Don’t Care, Do U”, a comment about the fake news media, and not about the migrant children she visited in Texas later that day.
Fashion Style:Despite the former supermodel’s beauty and impeccable fashion sense, Melania Trump has never appeared on a lifestyle magazine cover until now with Mode Lifestyle Magazine.Earlier this year as posted on Twitter, Emmy and Golden Globe award winner, James Woods remarked “If you need any further proof of the shameless bias of the liberal mainstream media, the most stunning First Lady in American history has never graced our nation’s major style magazine covers….”. On the other hand, Michelle Obama has been featured on more than twenty magazine covers while she was the first lady.
No matter what fashion the first lady decided to wear, judgmental social media controversy prevailed. For example, during her husband’s 2017 inauguration Melania Trump decided to wear a custom blue Ralph Lauren suit. She looked gorgeous that day, reminiscent of Jacqueline Kennedy’s stunning ivory silk statin dress worn at JFK’s inauguration. An anonymous source at Ralph Lauren told Glamour, “We immediately started to get complaints about Melania Trump wearing [the label], and people
using the #boycottralphlauren hashtag.” It is ironic that Ralph Lauren, an American designer, who has worked with first ladies, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Reagan, had no regard of their political affiliation, yet when Melania Trump worea Ralph Lauren ensemble,social media tried to launch a boycott of Ralph Lauren designs.
Renown in the fashion industry for more than thirty years, the fashion stylist and adviser, Hervé Pierre, worked with former first ladies, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. When asked about the first lady, Melania Trump, he mentioned, “When you work with a woman, it’s not about the clothes. It’s about the way a person is living: the way she eats, the way she organizes, her flowers,” Pierre added. “I ask a question every time I put an idea on paper: Where is this woman going?”
For the 2017 inauguration ball, Mr. Pierre in collaboration with Melania Trump, designed a stunning vanilla silk, off-the-shoulder gown for the first lady. The “couture” inaugural dress is on display at the Smithsonian’s First Ladies Collection of past inaugural gowns.
Next Chapter:Nobody, not even Melania Trump, knows the “Next Chapter” of her life, but people can speculate. First and foremost, she loves her family. Even though the past four years have been difficult for the President and their family, she has never wavered in supporting her husband, but on occasion, has disagreed with him. Going forward she will continue to be a strong, self-determined person voicing her opinion whenever she deems it is necessary. The love of her life is her son, Barron, a handsome young man, almost as tall as his father. As the first male to live in the White House since JFK Jr., the 14-year-old first son is attending St. Andrew’s Episcopal School instead of the Sidwell Friends, the school of every president’s child over the past 35 years.After leaving the White House, the Trumps have relocated to the Mar-a-Laga Club, Florida.
Melania is creative and her passion is design “I studied design. So, I have many, many ideas for home, for clothing,” she said in the Fox Business interview. “I love beauty and fashion, so we will see in the future.”
After the experience of being the first lady for four years during a tumultuous presidency, Melania Trump has developed a unique perspective regarding America politics, living in the White House and in the fishbowllifestyle of Washington. We can only hope that she will write her memoirs as the First Lady of the United States, instead of reading sensationalaccountswritten by third party individuals.
This cover story was written for publishing in December 2020. No magazine wanted to publish the cover story fearing backlash from readers and boycotting of advertisers. Masquerade Magazine decided to step forward and publish, “Melania Trump – The First Lady: Never Appreciated Until Now”.
