Even as half of the country calls for a recount and preemptively mourns the loss of their freedoms in the wake of the election, millions of Americans are cheering for another term under President Trump. As they await his return to the White House, his First Lady Melania Trump, has maintained her distance – but it doesn’t mean she isn’t caught in the crossfire.
The Russian state media is participating in some casual humiliation in the months before Trump’s inauguration – and it’s all directed toward Mrs. Trump.
It’s an open secret that Melania Trump despises her husband, and if she doesn’t it sure does look that way from the outside looking in. There is little doubt that the former model married her hubs for a nice comfy life, but that golden throne can’t be comfortable – especially when it shackles you to an Oompa Loompa. In a not-so-subtle jab at the incoming president, a preeminent Russian news network shared a slew of nude photos of the First Lady.
The pictures are professional modeling shots from her early days as a model in Slovenia and throughout Europe. While they’re professional in nature, the intent behind the news story is self-explanatory. It’s a hit piece, with Putin taking direct aim at Trump, and the language couldn’t be clearer. While talking about Melania’s state of undress on a blue carpet bearing the seal of the president, the anchor casually asserts that it was “as though the editors of a men’s magazine knew something in advance about the future of their model.”
It’s a simple seed, but it successfully planted a sense of doubt around Trump’s position in the White House – and the fear is creeping back in. Fresh comments on the old video were mired in conspiracy theories about Trump being a “puppet to Putin.” Political Commentator Brain Krassenstein described the video as a “warning shot” from the Russian president and a reminder that Trump has caved to the dictator before.
“Putin wants to remind Trump and Congress that he has worse tapes on them,” one commenter wrote. It could be a reference to the infamous “pee tapes,” first detailed in the 2016 opposition research report, “The Steele Dossier.” That video allegedly shows Trump watching prostitutes pee on a bed – one the Obamas supposedly slept in while visiting the country. The not-quite-golden shower was allegedly filmed in Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton hotel by the Russian state and of course, the internet believes it could be used to blackmail Trump.
As a professional model, Melania Trump cares very little about her nude images circulating. In her memoir, she wrote that she was proud of her work, and flipped the narrative by asking “why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form?” It was a job that made her famous and ensured she could meet a man like Trump who would make her life perfect. The First Lady’s greatest concern for the future is likely how to avoid touching her husband’s hands and somehow slog through another 4 Christmases.
But whatever Putin is insinuating by sharing the images, it doesn’t bode well for the average American. He’s clearly unbothered by Trump and whether it’s because the two have some sort of backroom agreement, or because Putin simply doesn’t see Trump as a threat, we may never know.