Melania: After Her First Big Win, Someone Stole Her Prize Money

In her new memoir, we finally meet the Melania Trump we never knew

Above: Melania Trump is suddenly getting the attention she missed in the first administration. Compare her official White House portraits from 2017 (left) and 2025 (right). Now 54, the First Lady seems to be “making big statements” even when she doesn’t say anything. The New York Times dubbed her “the silent partner,” but when she released her new book, it went straight to №1. Like her new portrait, the book is black and white but offers many clues to her strategy. Images courtesy of the White House.

For 20 years, we’ve watched Melania Trump without knowing her. The first fashion model got far less publicity than other First Ladies.

Her White House staff never had more than 12 people (some of her predecessors had 23). But Trump 2.0 is far different from Trump 1.0:

• Her new memoir, which features only her first name, Melania, on the cover, debuted at №1 on the New York Times and Amazon Bestseller lists.
• Melania’s son, Barron, is now the Trump heir who gets the most buzz of the five Trump children. In Trump 1.0, he was 10 and was falsely called “autistic” by Rosie O’Donnell. Now, fans sing songs about a future “President Barron Trump.”
• Her new official portrait is trending in black and white, like her book cover. Even the hat she wore to the January 20 Inauguration (and subsequent outfits she wore on trips to North Carolina and California) were each analyzed in great detail on X.com (now the №1 news app).

Twenty years after marrying the man who disrupted real estate, television, and global politics, Melania Trump is finally gaining widespread attention with surprising stories.