By Sean McPolin
Former President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, wanted to see him humiliated after the embarrassing Stormy Daniels controversy, a new book has said.
Melania, a former model, was enraged after her 77-year-old husband was criminally charged last year for his hush money deal with the ex-porn star. It led to reports the mother-of-one didn't care if her partner ended up behind bars for the offence as she was still seething about his affair and betrayal.
Now, it's been alleged when the shock allegations about a six-figure deal for Ms Daniels to keep quiet about their relations, Melania was furious about it all. That's according to New York Times reporter Katie Rogers's new book American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, From Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden.
The allegations against the Republican presidential candidate first came to light in 2018 and there was reportedly a behind the scenes fall out between the pair, with Melania refusing to join her husband on a trip abroad. She instead headed to Mar-a-Lago to enjoy some time without him.
In her new book, Rogers writes: “[FLOTUS press secretary Stephanie] Grisham , who travelled with her on that jaunt, said that the first lady had wanted to communicate her anger to the president." Melania, Grisham told Rogers, “was pissed at Trump and wanted him to be a little humiliated that she took off.”
Fast forward four years and Melania was apparently showing the same disdain for her husband's affair when she communicated a similar message by failing to show up to Trump's speech at Mar-a-Lago - her home - following his arraignment by the Manhattan district attorney on 34 felony charges stemming from the hush money deal, Vanity Fair reports.
Trump pleaded not guilty and has continuously denied the affair. At the time of the rejection, reporter Linda Marx said the former first lady had no sympathy for her husband's "plight". A source familiar with the matter said: “Despite what happens to Donald, she will be fine.”
The hush money trial is set to take place later this month on Monday, March 25. Prosecutors in the case have already requested a gag order preventing him from attacking known or likely witnesses, court staff, the DA’s staff and their families, and any potential jurors.
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They cited what they called the Republican frontrunner's "long history of making public and inflammatory remarks" about those involved in his legal cases. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office made the request as part of three filings surrounding the case.
They are hoping for a "narrowly tailored" order that would bar Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about potential witnesses and jurors, as well as statements designed to interfere with or harass court staff, the prosecution team or their families ahead of the trial which is due to start on March 25.
The prosecutors cited what they described as Trump's "longstanding and perhaps singular history" against anyone involved in a legal case against him. He is accused of falsifying business records in relation to hush money he paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The 77-year-old pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges brought against him.
The DA's office also requested that the notorious 'Access Hollywood' tape from 2005 be played before the jury, which was made public towards the end of Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. It is argued that the footage, in which he bragged about grabbing women's genitals without permission, is "highly relevant" in terms of his motivation in paying the hush money to Daniels.
Prosecutors claim the release of the footage, which was followed by a swarm of women coming forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault, hastened his efforts to keep negative stories out of the press, leading to one of the hush-money arrangements at the centre of the case. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote: "The release of the tape - and the accompanying concerns about its possible impact on the election - are thus directly related to the Stormy Daniels payoff, which was executed just a few weeks later, reports ABC News.