10 scandals Melania Trump addresses in her new memoir

In 2016, Melania Trump delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention featuring passages that appeared to plagiarize Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention address.

In a chapter titled “Why Was the Speech Not Vetted?” Melania Trump wrote that her team’s “failure to perform their duty filled me with a profound sense of betrayal.”

“My initial reaction was one of disbelief, but upon closer examination, the undeniable similarities between the two speeches left me reeling,” she wrote. “The weight of this realization hit me with a force I had never experienced. Looking back, I realized that I had relied too much on others in this crucial endeavor.”

After the similarities came to light, Meredith McIver, a staff writer for the Trump Organization, accepted responsibility. She said Melania Trump had told her she liked Obama’s speech and read some of it to McIver, who jotted down notes and inadvertently used it in the address.

“This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant,” McIver said.

In 2016, Rosie O’Donnell posted on X, then known as Twitter: “Barron Trump Autistic? If so, what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic. #StopTheBullying” along with a video compilation of Barron Trump.

Melania Trump wrote that while there is “nothing shameful about autism,” Barron Trump is not autistic, and the post led to him experiencing bullying “both online and in real life.”

“It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism,” she wrote. “I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.”

She added: “To float such a ‘question’ to a million people, knowing exactly how it would be received, was beyond careless; it was heartless.”

O’Donnell later apologized, but Melania Trump wrote that “no apology can undo the harm inflicted upon him.”

In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a “zero-tolerance” immigration policy in which parents with children who crossed the US border illegally would have their children taken from them, sparking widespread protests.

Melania Trump wrote that she was “blindsided” by reports of children being separated from their parents at the border, saying that she had been “completely unaware of the policy.”

She wrote in her memoir that she told her husband, “This has to stop.” Donald Trump announced the end of the family separation policy in June 2018.

“I am sympathetic to all who wish to find a better life in this country,” she wrote. “As an immigrant myself, I intimately understand the necessary if arduous process of legally becoming an American. While I support strong borders, what was going on at the border was simply unacceptable and went against everything I believe in.”

She also wrote that she believed in addressing “occasional political disagreements” with her husband privately rather than in public.

Melania Trump wrote that Fox News’ early projection of Arizona flipping to Joe Biden made her question the results of the 2020 election, despite the fact that election calls are usually made before all of a state’s votes are counted.

“Many Americans still have doubts about the election to this day,” she wrote. “I am not the only person who questions the results,” she wrote. However, she stopped short of falsely claiming, as Donald Trump has, that the election was “stolen” or “rigged.”

The former first lady wrote that on January 6, 2021, she was engrossed in archival work with her team and didn’t know about the attack occurring at the Capitol.

When she received a text from her press secretary asking if she wanted to denounce the violence, she wrote that she was confused.

“I found the question perplexing — when had I ever condoned violence?” she wrote.

She also blamed her chief of staff for not informing her about the violent mob at the Capitol.

“Had I been fully informed of all the details, naturally, I would have immediately denounced the violence that occurred at the Capitol Building,” she wrote. “I have always and will always condemn violence.”

In 2022, Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump’s former press secretary, shared a screenshot of the alleged text exchange.

“Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness & violence?” Grisham texted Melania Trump according to the screenshot.

The screenshot showed that Melania Trump replied, “No.”

In response to Melania Trump’s claims in the memoir, Grisham told The Hill that turning on her is “the Trump formula.”

“But whatever makes her feel better — I really don’t care, do you?” she added.