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Donald Trump revealed what former first lady Melania Trump thinks of his trial in New York for the first time on 17 October as he made a series of remarks to the press during a break from proceedings in court.
The former president is currently on trial for civil fraud charges brought against him by New York attorney general Letitia James, who has accused Mr Trump, his adult sons and the Trump Organization of producing fraudulent valuations of their properties and misrepresenting their financial records, exaggerating their worth “by billions” to extract favourable terms from lenders and insurers.
Testimony has now been wrapped up in the case and a verdict is expected to be delivered Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York County Supreme Court before the end of January 2024.
Before the bench trial had even begun, Justice Engoron ruled that fraud had been committed by the defendants, who have all pleaded not guilty, with the former president especially vocal in insisting that the case should never have been brought.
Ms Trump has largely preferred to keep her distance from the affair but, thanks to comments captured by grapher Kyle Mazza of News12 New Jersey, the former first lady’s thoughts on the case appeared to come to light.
Asked what his wife thinks about the case, Mr Trump replied: “She thinks it’s a total disgrace, she thinks it’s very, very unfair, and all that it is is election interference.”
The Trumps have rarely been seen in public together this year.
After decamping from their winter home at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida — the epicentre of one of the federal cases against Mr Trump — the former president has spent much of the summer at his golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey.
Ms Trump, meanwhile, according to People magazine, spent the majority of the summer in Manhattan.
She has not been at her husband’s side during any of the appearances or campaign events surrounding his indictments.
Citing a “social source”, People said: “Melania publicly supports her husband but privately prefers a life with 100 per cent privacy and no press scrutiny.
“She knows how her husband is but still believes there has been too much dumping on him and wants nothing to do with any of it.
“She hates all of the legal problems and says very little about them anytime anywhere. She leads her own life.”
As her husband jets around the country vehemently denying the allegations made against him in the four indictments, Ms Trump has preferred to spend time with her family and a select circle of trusted friends.
The source explains: “Unlike others who belong to her husband’s clubs, she doesn’t rely on outside stimulants to guide her daily life. She has her son, other family members, and select friends.”
In September, Mr Trump was asked by Meet the Press host Kristen Welker if “we’ll see [Melania] on the trail soon”.
“Yeah. Pretty soon,” he replied. “When it’s appropriate, but pretty soon.”
The Trumps celebrating New Year’s Eve at their Palm Beach home on 31 December 2022
(Getty)
Mr Trump told Ms Welker that the former first lady has been busy taking care of their 17-year-old son Barron.
He added that he wants to prevent her from being exposed to the “nasty and mean” political scene.
“She’s a private person, a great person, a very confident person,” he said of his wife, a former model.
“And she loves our country very much.”
Later in September, it was reported by Page Six that Ms Trump had “quietly” renegotiated her prenuptial agreement.
“This is at least the third time Melania has renegotiated the terms of her marital agreement,” a source told the site, stressing that, to their knowledge, Ms Trump has no present intention of ending her marriage.
“Melania is most concerned about maintaining and increasing a substantial trust for their son”, the insider said.
“This agreement was necessary because of the current legal battles… [Donald] has suffered,” they added.
“Trump remains very rich, but with mounting legal bills and judgements,” they continued, adding that the renegotiated prenup agreement would “proe a more solid future” for Melania and Barron if they divorced.
“It’s not that she threatened to leave him,” the source clarified. “It’s definitely the underlying idea.”
Another unnamed insider told the same outlet: “I know that she wanted it to proe her with more money, and also — from what I understand — there’s a specific amount at minimum that Barron is supposed to obtain.”
Before the couple left Florida for the summer, they were last pictured together at an Easter 2022 brunch at Mar-a-Lago, at Mr Trump’s presidential campaign launch that November and at the club’s New Year’s Eve party to close out the old year.
