WASHINGTON — Melania Trump is defying expectations in her second term as first lady, reinventing herself with her modern, activist approach to the role.
“The first lady is action-oriented right now,” her business adviser Marc Beckman told The Post. “She is looking to impact people’s lives.”
In her first 14 months back in the White House, Trump has secured the return of at least 19 Ukrainian children to their families, led a session of the UN Security Council, hosted a world summit on technology and children, helped usher the Take It Down Act into law, and secured funding and resources for foster children around the nation.
It’s a marked contrast to the prelude to her second term in Washington, when many speculated that she may not even live in the White House. Instead, she is taking charge and telling her own story.
Trump will have more to say on Thursday afternoon in what’s been billed as a major announcement at the White House.
Beckman refused to divulge what she’ll say but promised it would be news that would “spread internationally” in the same vein as her first announcement on the release of children from Russia.
“It’s the new Melania,” Dr. Katherine Jellison, an expert on first ladies at Ohio University, told The Post, noting Trump changed more than her approach to the role. She’s also altered her image: blonder highlights and business suits.
“She’s dressed more like a businesswoman,” Jellison pointed out. “She’s definitely trying to be taken more seriously and more positively.”
It’s a marked contrast from Trump’s first tenure in the White House. She started her signature Be Best initiative during that time, but much of the work she did was behind-the-scenes, such as when she oversaw necessary repairs to the White House infrastructure and grounds. And much of her focus was on being a mother to son Barron, who was in middle school at the time.
Now in college, Barron is more independent, and Melania Trump is more comfortable in the public eye, going so far as to answer impromptu questions from the media on several occasions to talk about her work and objectives.
“Visionary” is the word the first lady used to describe herself when she spoke at a Women’s History Month event last month, advising women to “Make time for yourself, educate yourself daily, and spread your passion. Be courageous and take risks.”
This time around, Trump and her team are being more proactive in publicizing her accomplishments, taking control of the narrative when it comes to her legacy as first lady. When the Justice Department achieved the first criminal conviction under the Take It Down Act — the law dealing with “revenge porn” and “deep fakes” that the first lady championed — Trump and her team were quick to tout the victory.
“TAKE IT DOWN ACT: FIRST CONVICTION,” her office blasted.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt even gave it a shoutout in her press briefing on Wednesday.
“Yesterday marked the very first conviction under the Take It Down Act, landmark legislation that first lady Melania Trump played an instrumental role in getting passed,” Leavitt said. “This is a huge achievement. achievement for the first lady, and I know the president is very proud of his wife’s efforts in getting this critical legislation passed.”
Some of this outreach could be a reaction to the first term, where Trump’s press coverage was more on what she wore than what she did. Trump herself noted that when she was promoting her memoir “Melania,” saying that, as “the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts. I believe it is important to share my perspective: The truth.”
After Donald Trump won a second term, Melania Trump was ready. She showed she would define herself this time, signing a $40 million deal with Amazon for her self-titled documentary.
“In this second administration, she is trying to be more in charge of her own image, take control, present her own story of who she is,” Jellison said, calling it a result of the “so much negative and critical press of her in the first term.”
Some of the first lady’s work from the first term — her Be Best Initiative and her work with foster children — have been carried over and advanced in her second term.
Trump and her team secured $30 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to aid foster children in housing, and more than 23 universities around the country are helping with scholarships.
She’s also expanded her portfolio to include artificial intelligence as part of her quest to help children prepare for the future. She is leading the Presidential AI Challenge, in which all 50 states are taking part.
That role has also led to more high-profile events. Trump hosted 50 spouses from around the world at a summit on technology and education at the White House. She walked into their meeting with a robot at her side, a moment that went viral on social media.
“She’s impacting people’s lives over and over again,” Beckman noted, saying the first lady was particularly interested in “preparing our youth for the challenges to come.”
Trump, however, is also fulfilling the ceremonial roles of the first spouse, working on holiday events like Christmas and Easter, and preparing for the upcoming state dinner for King Charles III of England.
“She is impacting people’s lives, yet she continues to take on all the traditional roles,” Beckman pointed out, describing what Trump was doing as “good for our country.”
