No wonder that moment at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been replayed so often over the last few days. It felt like we were seeing, for the first time, something that Melania has been hiding from us. I’m sure I’m not the only one who watched the footage over and over, mesmerized by this glimpse of genuine emotion: terror.
Sitting on the dais between her husband and pregnant White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the first lady appears to be engrossed in conversation. The evening’s entertainer, mentalist Oz Pearlman, hovers over them, trying to guess the name Leavitt has chosen for her unborn child. The moment that shots are heard, Melania stops, mid-conversation. Her back stiffens, and her usually stoic face is visibly gripped by fear. While Trump placidly looks around, seemingly unaware and unbothered, Melania asks, “What happened?” She appears to be the first at her table to dive underneath it.
Throughout modern history, first ladies have often served as the empathetic, emotive counterpart to their husbands, who need to remain more manly and stoic. Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and Hillary Clinton all exuded emotional sensitivity during their stints in the White House. But that’s never been Melania’s strong suit.
Yet the president uncharacteristically acknowledged his wife’s emotions at a press conference after the dinner. He said that Melania said, “That’s a bad noise” at the sound of shots being fired. “Melania was cognizant,” he continued. “It was a rather traumatic experience for her.”
Trump later told 60 Minutes’ Norah O’Donnell that he himself “wasn’t worried. I understand life,” he drawled slowly. “We live in a crazy world.” O’Donnell was also struck by the visual of Melania at that moment, and asked Trump point-blank if she was frightened. “I don’t want to say—people don’t like having it said that they were scared, but who wouldn’t be when you have a situation like that?” he replied. “I think she realized ahead of time that it was more of a bullet than it was a tray…”
Usually, Melania’s feelings are made apparent by lawsuits or veiled allegations. In 2016, she sued the Daily Mail for insinuating that she had been an escort for hire prior to her marriage, receiving a payment for an undisclosed amount from the outlet. And earlier this month, she held a surprise press conference in which she gave an odd speech denying any ties to Jeffrey Epstein. With her trademark hauteur, she denounced “the individuals lying about me” in connecting her to Epstein—without specifically indicating who they are—and rejected “their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.” She also called on Congress to mount a public hearing for survivors’ testimony—something the survivors themselves have not requested. (In fact, a group of Epstein survivors subsequently released a statement accusing the first lady of “shifting the burden on to survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power: the Department of Justice, law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Trump administration, which has still not fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.”)
It was the kind of speech that set off alarm bells; rather than clearing her name, it raised questions about what she might be hiding or trying to get ahead of.
She unleashed her rage again on Monday morning, excoriating Jimmy Kimmel for doing a parody of a traditional White House Correspondents’ Dinner comedy roast on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! he had recorded the night before the actual event was foiled.
After making an Epstein joke about the president, Kimmel turned his attention to Melania. “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” he said, referencing the president’s age. The comedian had no way of knowing that a gunman would disrupt the actual event when he filmed his bit.