Wondering what’s in Melania Trump’s upcoming memoir? Well, we now finally have a glimpse.
In the lead-up to the book’s release on Oct. 8, The Guardian shared excerpts from Melania on two hot-button issues this election: Abortion and immigration. And her stances seem to put her at odds with her husband, former President Trump, and his party. These revelations arrive alongside a new video from the former first lady, expressing support for reproductive rights and teasing her upcoming book.
“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard,” says former first lady in a brief clip posted on social media. “Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom. What does my body, my choice, really mean?”
Of course, this begs one major question: Why did she decide to come forward with this stance at this moment in her husband’s campaign? We took a closer look at what else she has reportedly said on the issue, and at some of Donald’s other controversial policies.
Melania Trump supports abortion rights
The former first lady believes that women have the right to choose an abortion “free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” according to a copy of her forthcoming memoir. This is a very interesting take, given her husband’s role in ending the constitutional right to an abortion in the U.S. in 2022. (In fact, Donald even bragged about it: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone,” he said last year on his Truth Social platform.)
That said, the former first lady reportedly acknowledges in her book that she and her husband have “occasional political disagreements” that they’ve addressed privately. Still, she writes that there’s “no room for negotiation” when it comes to her support for abortion rights.
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” she writes. “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life,” she adds. But Melania doesn’t stop there: the former first lady goes on to defend late-term abortions, emphasizing that “timing matters.”
“It is important to note that historically, most abortions conducted during the later stages of pregnancy were the result of severe fetal abnormalities that probably would have led to the death or stillbirth of the child,” she writes. “Perhaps even the death of the mother. These cases were extremely rare and typically occurred after several consultations between the woman and her doctor. As a community, we should embrace these common-sense standards.”
Melania pushed Donald to end a notoriously brutal immigration policy
According to another leaked excerpt, Melania reveals how in 2018, she told Donald to end a hardline immigration policy which separated migrant children from their parents.
But before discussing the border crisis with her husband back then, she writes that she “thoroughly educated” herself first — then ultimately decided that the situation demanded “urgent attention and action.”
This issue is also a personal one for the former first lady, who was born in Slovenia before immigrating to the U.S. and becoming a citizen in 2006. “I am sympathetic to all who wish to find a better life in this country,” the former first lady writes. “As an immigrant myself, I intimately understand the necessary if arduous process of legally becoming an American.”
She goes on to say that she supports “strong borders” but adds, “what was going on at the border was simply unacceptable.”
“I immediately addressed my deep concerns with Donald regarding the family separations, emphasizing the trauma it was causing these families,” she writes. “As a mother myself, I stressed: ‘The government should not be taking children away from their parents.’ I communicated with great clarity … ‘This has to stop.'”
Melania’s intervention in this border crisis has been well-documented. In fact, Donald himself acknowledged that Melania was among those that urged him to make a change. “She’s been talking to him about it from the very beginning,” an unnamed White House official told NPR at the time.
Up until this point, Melania has rarely expressed her political views to the public. But it now appears she’s ready to make it clear that she sees some urgent campaign issues quite differently from her husband.
