Trump defends Melania's dedication to her role as first lady and insists she believed he would win the 2016 election

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November 28, 2017 3:37 PM

President Donald Trump defended his wife, Melania Trump, after a critical Vanity Fair story and said she "truly loves" her White House role.

President Donald Trump defended his wife, Melania Trump, in a tweet on Tuesday morning and said she "truly loves" her White House role.
The president's comments came shortly after a Vanity Fair story quoted an unnamed friend of the couple saying Melania Trump didn't want to be first lady "come hell or high water."

President Donald Trump defended his wife, Melania Trump, in a tweet on Tuesday morning, calling her a "great and very hard working First Lady" who "truly loves" her White House role and arguing that she had been confident in his ability to win the 2016 presidential election.

The president's comments came two days after a lengthy Vanity Fair story that examined Melania Trump's apprehension about being first lady, her skeletal East Wing staff, and her relatively opaque relationship with the president. Unnamed sources told the magazine that she didn't believe she would ever make it to the White House and didn't want to be first lady.

The president seemed to focus on the assertion that his wife didn't believe he would win the election, emphasizing in his tweet that she had full confidence in him.

"Melania, our great and very hard working First Lady, who truly loves what she is doing, always thought that 'if you run, you will win.' She would tell everyone that, 'no doubt, he will win,'" Trump wrote. "I also felt I would win (or I would not have run) - and Country is doing great!"

Vanity Fair quoted a longtime friend of the Trumps as saying Melania Trump didn't want to be first lady "come hell or high water."

"This isn't something she wanted and it isn't something he ever thought he'd win," the friend said. "She didn't want this come hell or high water. I don't think she thought it was going to happen."

A representative for the first lady called the story "salacious" and "false."

"Once again part of the liberal media, this time Vanity Fair, has written a story riddled with unnamed sources and false assertions," the representative said in a Monday statement. "As a magazine tailored to women it is shameful that they continue to write salacious and false stories mean to demean Mrs. Trump, rather than focus on her positive work as first lady and a supportive wife and mother. As has been stated on the record many times before, she is honored by her role."

Max Tani contributed to this report.

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