# A word about Melania Trump. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001 "2017-01-24T02:19:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/81 "2017-01-25T10:19:59Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > She has a very traditional background and views and was a good match for a guy who needed someone to produce an heir and then take care of him while he was out making deals. He already had multiple heirs, we’re not talking about some king desperate because all his legitimate children die before their ages reach double digits. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/82 "2017-01-25T10:33:06Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You really shouldn’t make any assumptions based on a brief moment when Melania isn’t smiling. > > No one can keep a smile plastered on their face all day long. Especially during a stressful day like they were having. > Melania grew up in a Communist country. Managed to leave and establish herself as a model and business woman. She deserves respect regardless of how you feel about her husband. > [@UberArchetype](#): > > I find it interesting how people can always find someting, no matter how trivial, preposterous or far out in left field, to support a crackpot idea. Must be more alternate facts. Melania had a sad face = Her world is coming to an end? > > Tells far more about the OP than Melania. :smack: I agree with the sentiments in these two posts. Petty bitchiness is an awful trait. Add some political mud slinging into the mix and we have this resulting thread. Half the posters on this thread appear to be nothing more than curtain twitchers. I would hate to be a neighbor of theirs. Im still waiting on the Palin marriage breaking down. It was much rumored upon at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/83 "2017-01-25T12:32:02Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > I am sorry, as somebody who speaks several languages, and surrounded by people who also do, it doesn’t make you particularly smart, and certainly not literate. The implication of saying she’s illiterate is that she’s stupid. Granted, mastering several languages is no proof of genius, but it is indicative of being a mentally and intellectually normal human being. In other words, not stupid. She may be “only” average - but that’s true of most people. > [@](#): > > We have no evidence of her intelligence or literary acumen. She could be a genius or a dumbass, she hasn’t given us an indication of the former, and we have no proof of the latter. Either way, I don’t care and won’t speculate. But other do feel free to speculate. Frankly, if all Melania does is be a stay-at-home mother to Barron it wouldn’t bother me a bit. She’s not someone who was elected to a government position. She’s under no obligation to work or have a career outside the home (although she did have one in the past). As First Lady her only real obligation is to accompany her husband to certain state functions, look presentable, and not cause offense at official functions. As a former professional model she is very qualified to do all of the above. Anything else is gravy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/84 "2017-01-25T12:43:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The implication of saying she’s illiterate is that she’s stupid. [Your assumption that someone who is illiterate is “stupid” is offensive](https://www.literacyworldwide.org/get-involved). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/85 "2017-01-25T14:15:18Z")
I’m sorry, you have mistaken my pointing out an insinuation based on _someone else’s_ attempted insult for my own opinion. I am well aware that there are many people who do not read or write who are nonetheless average to highly intelligent. However, the person who suggested Melania Trump was illiterate was using that point to imply she is stupid. That was not my action, indeed, I disagreed with it. Internet tough guys don’t say “she’s illiterate” as a compliment, it’s intended as an insult and to imply the person in question is stupid. That person was not me. Please do not put words in my mouth or make assumptions about me based on what _someone else_ has posted. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/86 "2017-01-25T14:21:14Z")
> **[Watch Melania Trump Defend the Racist Birther Movement Against Barack Obama](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/melania-trump-supported-her-husbands-racist-birtherism-claims-on-tv)** > > The clip surfaced after Women's March protesters brandished "Free Melania" signs. Teen Vogue admonishes people sympathizing with Melania and painting her as a victim, because she’s actually the asshole’s accomplice. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/87 "2017-01-25T14:34:58Z")
Accomplice? She perpetually looks as if she’s being held at gunpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/88 "2017-01-25T15:04:03Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > Thank you. This post was both interesting and informative. I think I had heard most of the tidbits before, but it put them together nicely for me. You are welcome. Its sort of fascinating that the perception of First Ladies throughout American History has been for the most part rather passive - with the exception of Eleanor Roosevelt or Edith Wilson or HRC. But even in simple proximity, these women were probably far more important than we care to acknowledge. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/89 "2017-01-25T15:14:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > He already had multiple heirs, we’re not talking about some king desperate because all his legitimate children die before their ages reach double digits. Good point. I imagine a scenario where she wanted to have a baby and he said, “Yeah, whatever.” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/90 "2017-01-25T17:09:48Z")
If you’re the trophy wife, the first thing you’ve got to do is produce a child, because that’s your financial lifeline when he dumps you in 10 years for his next trophy wife. You can make your prospective spouse sign all the pre-nups you want, that doesn’t affect child support because you can’t sign away the rights of the child. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/91 "2017-01-25T17:14:57Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I’m a man with RBF. It’s kind of a shame, because I’m actually a warm, caring and funny person. Me too, except without the warm, caring, or funny parts. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/92 "2017-01-25T17:30:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Accomplice? She perpetually looks as if she’s being held at gunpoint. Remember she rebroadcast Michelle Obama’s speech at the RNC and defended pussy grabbing as locker room talk. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/93 "2017-01-25T20:58:15Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It’s interesting how much all this criticism parallels similar speculation among right-wingers about the Clinton marriage. How it was a loveless and miserable business arrangement, how she humiliated herself (by tolerating all the infidelity) in order to have what she wanted (access to the ladder to power), etc. Whatever the right wing imagined, the two situations do not seem parallel at all. Hilary is just about everything Melania isn’t. Yeah, Clinton married a humilating womanizer but their marriage always seemed strong to me anyway. They came up together, they are both ambitious, extraordinarily competent, highly trained, highly intelligent extraverted people who appear to genuinely like each and work together well. Hilary Clinton is a formidable person with an army of supporters and a battalion of highly-placed friends – she was then and is now. Melania seems isolated and alone, way out of her depth, frightened, trapped. She clearly loathes and fears her husband. Bluebeard’s latest wife. ---
**Author:** ![UberArchetype](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/2bfe46/32.png) [@UberArchetype](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UberArchetype)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/94 "2017-01-25T21:50:39Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Melania seems isolated and alone, way out of her depth, frightened, trapped. She clearly loathes and fears her husband. Bluebeard’s latest wife. Does believing that make you feel more comfortable with Hillary’s humiliating defeat? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/95 "2017-01-25T22:30:17Z")
Does believing that make you more comfortable with the arrant boor in the White House? ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/96 "2017-01-25T22:33:01Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > **Skip This Post if You Find Morbid Baseless Speculation to be Tasteless** > > How would it be handled and what would be the fallout if she were to commit suicide while First Lady? > > From a human standpoint, it would be tragic obviously, but we on this messageboard have certainly set our humanity aside from time to time while arguing far fetched macabre hypotheticals before. > Hell, some of us have set aside our humanity when discussing very real and personal issues. > > So… > [ul] > [li]How would the administration address it from a P.R. standpoint?[/li][li]How would the media cover it?[/li][li]What would be the political fallout?[/li][/ul] I believe the standard response is to attribute the death [to ‘appendicitis’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Alliluyeva#Death) ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/97 "2017-01-25T22:36:02Z")
I more or less had forgotten she existed until I read this thread. I think she intends to remain in the background as much as she possibly can for reasons of her own. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/98 "2017-01-25T22:44:15Z")
> [@UberArchetype](#): > > Does believing that make you feel more comfortable with Hillary’s humiliating defeat? What the hell does Hillary have to do with Melania? The campaign is over. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/99 "2017-01-25T23:01:55Z")
I made a thread a few months ago talking about how I felt Melania was far more aware and acute than people are giving her credit for. Yeah its a marriage of convenience for both of them. She gets his wealth and political connections, he gets a hot trophy wife young enough to be his daughter. I am sure she is well versed on how to tip toe around a narcissist, and I’m sure she mostly stays out of his way (the fact that she wanted to stay in NYC while Donald lives in DC wasn’t surprising to me). I’d even guess she is probably relieved when Donald goes around chasing other women, because that means she doesn’t have to have sex with him. I’m sure she strategically strokes his ego and keeps out of his way the rest of the time. She isn’t a victim. I’m sure she has to put up with verbal and emotional abuse from Donald, but she chose that to be with a wealthy man knowing he has a serious mental illness that makes him hard to deal with. She probably keeps him content enough to not get angry the 1% of the time they are together, and then does her own thing the other 99% of the time. I’ve heard stories of trophy wives talking about how their husbands basically took care of the wife’s whole family. They would pay off the mortgage of the wife’s parents and siblings, get good jobs for them, etc. Its a trade off. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001/100 "2017-01-26T01:18:39Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > If you’re the trophy wife, the first thing you’ve got to do is produce a child, because that’s your financial lifeline when he dumps you in 10 years for his next trophy wife. You can make your prospective spouse sign all the pre-nups you want, that doesn’t affect child support because you can’t sign away the rights of the child. I don’t think non-disclosure agreements are enforceable between married couples. At this point if Donald wants to skimp out on alimony he’ll end up in a bidding war with every publishing company & non-Russian media outlet on the planet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-about-melania-trump/778001.md?page=6)