[imagesource: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

Watching her traipse behind Donald Trump, you wouldn’t think that Melania Trump is particularly happy, or in control of her situation.

Occasionally she shows a bit of life, like swatting Donald’s hand away, avoiding it completely with the clever use of coats, or forcing a smile when he tells her to.

It’s all very awkward, and her attempts to carve out her own niche as First Lady weren’t helped by the fact that she plagiarised Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech when Trump first took office.

So, what to make of FLOTUS?

Is she, as some suspect, being held against her will (#FreeMelania), or is there more to that blank stare?

A new biography, The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, penned by Mary Jordan, claims to have the answers.

Per The Daily Beast:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has taken a crack at nailing down the inscrutable first lady with this new biography, picking up where last year’s Free, Melania by CNN correspondent Kate Bennett left off.

Jordan traces Melania’s many lives, from young Slovenian student to working commercial model and eventual marriage to Trump.

The book made headlines last week when it revealed that Melania renegotiated the terms of her prenup before moving into the White House.

According to Jordan, “people cross Melania at their own risk”.

“During the presidential campaign, Melania felt that a lot had changed since she signed her prenup,” Jordan writes. “She had been with [Trump] a long time—longer than any other woman. She believed she made crucial contributions to his success.

There was talk that Trump likely wouldn’t return to overseeing the Trump Organization after running the country, and Melania wanted to ensure that Barron got his rightful share of inheritance, particularly if Ivanka took the reins of the family business.”

Jordan claims that Melania is a “sharp negotiator”, and wanted to make sure that Barron would get the same treatment as Trump’s other children – you know, the two creeps, Ivanka, and the fourth one that nobody talks about.

Speaking of Ivanka, the biography has some insight into that relationship as well.

Melania’s familial loyalty does not apparently extend to her step-children. Jordan reports that the first lady refers to Ivanka as “The Princess” behind her back. As Jordan writes, Ivanka would “[tell] classmates that her father’s girlfriend spoke as much as a painting on the wall.”

Ivanka calls Melania ‘The Portrait” for short.

When Ivanka became an adviser to her father, the book notes, she sought out space in the East Wing, which historically houses the first lady’s team. “Among other proposals, Ivanka suggested renaming the ‘First Lady’s Office’ the ‘First Family Office,’” Jordan writes.

“Melania did not allow that to happen.”

Melania was also more involved in the election campaign than we were led to believe.

As the book states, Trump had the three names on his vice president shortlist meet with Melania right before choosing a running mate. She spoke with Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Pence.

“Afterward, she gave Trump her assessment,” Jordan writes. “Mike had a big advantage over Gingrich and Christie: he was not too ambitious. She believed that he would be content in a number-two spot and not gun for the top job, which was something she could not say about the other two.”

That explains Pence. He was already content to play second fiddle in his marriage, so why would the vice-presidency be any different?

Perhaps most bizarre is FLOTUS’ attempts to make Trump look better by giving him modelling tips.

“Before a photo shoot, she has been heard telling Trump to slightly lift and extend his chin,” the book reveals. “At the 2018 state dinner she organized for the French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, she was overheard ‘stage managing’ Trump’s movements, as one person described it. Melania also installed professional lights in a White House room where the Trumps take many of their official photos.”

She has unequivocally failed in her efforts.

You can read more snippets from the biography, here.

Or, just behold its terrifying cover:

[source:dailybeast]