{"id":394289,"date":"2026-04-12T05:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/394289\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T05:34:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:34:19","slug":"what-on-earth-is-melania-trump-thinking-arwa-mahdawi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/394289\/","title":{"rendered":"What on Earth is Melania Trump thinking? | Arwa Mahdawi"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably heard of the Barbra Streisand effect<\/a>: the phenomenon where attempts to censor information end up drawing more attention to it.<\/p>\n

Now we might soon be referencing the Melania Trump<\/a> effect: the phenomenon where holding a surprise press conference<\/a> to state that you did not have a relationship with a dead paedophile, and would like people to please stop speculating about the matter, immediately causes people to start speculating about the matter.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, for reasons that nobody can quite understand, the first lady decided to tell the world to ignore all the rumours circulating about her connections to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> because she \u201cnever had a relationship\u201d with the late sex offender or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a>. Yes, she\u2019d met Epstein, but she barely knew him. Yes, there are photos of Epstein, Maxwell and the Trumps together, but those aren\u2019t a big deal.<\/p>\n

Trump did acknowledge writing a friendly email to Maxwell, signed \u201cLove, Melania\u201d, but brushed that off. \u201cI [have] never been friends with Epstein,\u201d she insisted. \u201cI am not Epstein\u2019s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.\u201d She also called on Congress to take sworn testimony in a public hearing from Epstein victims. (Maybe you could have just asked your husband to get that done, Melania? I hear he\u2019s pretty high up in politics.)<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be a PR expert to realise that issuing a statement like this was a deeply weird move. The world\u2019s attention has been diverted from Epstein by the war on Iran, but this unexpected press conference has put the Trump family\u2019s relationship with the late financier back in the headlines. If the first lady was hoping to clear up some rumours and draw a line under the issue, she has sorely failed. It\u2019s also unclear whether the president, who has urged people to move on<\/a> from Epstein, was aware Melania had planned to speak out about this.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s going on? The official explanation<\/a> is simply that Trump \u201cspoke out now because enough is enough\u201d. However, there\u2019s mounting speculation<\/a> that a big story might be about to drop, causing the White House to panic and attempt to get ahead of the narrative.<\/p>\n

I have another possible explanation. And that is that the Trumps aren\u2019t just morally bankrupt, they\u2019re also very, very stupid. A lot of people seem reluctant to acknowledge this about the president; they will tie themselves into knots trying to argue that his erratic actions actually represent a genius playing four-dimensional chess. He\u2019s not <\/a>really <\/a>a madman<\/a>, they insist, he\u2019s just playing one on Truth Social! I understand why people want to believe this: it\u2019s comforting to think there\u2019s some sort of method behind the madness. But if there is any sort of method, I certainly can\u2019t see it. All I can see is a man who thinks he can bully his way through life.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: even if you are blessed with \u201ca very high IQ<\/a>\u201d, when you are as rich and powerful as the Trumps, you can easily lose perspective. People rarely say \u201cno\u201d to you. Your employees don\u2019t tell you that your ideas are ridiculous because they don\u2019t want to lose their jobs. Melania may not be the president, but she is in the same sycophantic bubble as her husband. It\u2019s possible she just thought she could hold a press conference and command all us plebs to stop talking about her, and we would immediately obey.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, however, the first lady has now created a PR nightmare for herself. In a statement released on Thursday, a group of Epstein survivors accused Trump<\/a> of \u201cshifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions to protect those with power\u201d. They added that her statement \u201cdiverts attention from [former attorney general] Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors\u2019 identities. Those failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers. Survivors have done their part. Now it\u2019s time for those in power to do theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there seems to be very little chance of that happening. Bondi has said that, since she is no longer attorney general, she will not appear<\/a> on 14 April for a scheduled deposition to answer questions about the justice department\u2019s handling of the Epstein files. That won\u2019t stop broader questions from coming, of course: Melania Trump\u2019s press conference has made sure of that. Unless, of course, the first lady convinces her husband to invade another country or kill some more schoolchildren<\/a> to distract people for a while. If a bombshell about the Trump-Epstein relationship is about to drop, it feels on-brand for the White House to drown it out with a real explosion.<\/p>\n

Is it illegal to call Trump a dick-tator while wearing a penis costume?<\/p>\n

I guess we\u2019re going to find out if this is pun-ishable or not. Sixty-two-year-old Renea Gamble was recently arrested after sporting the dick-tator sign and phallic costume at a No Kings Rally in Alabama. She\u2019s now been charged with disturbing the peace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Virginia governor signs Right to Contraception Act<\/p>\n

Democratic governor Abigail Spanberger officially signed a new law<\/a> that stops state and local governments from passing or enforcing laws restricting the obtaining of contraceptives. Notably, the former Republican governor Glenn Youngkin previously vetoed<\/a> similar legislation.<\/p>\n

Tennessee school board member calls student \u2018hot\u2019<\/p>\n

In a livestreamed board meeting<\/a>, Keith Ervin wrapped his arm around a female high school student sitting next to him and said: \u201cGod, you\u2019re hot. Do you know that? Damn. Where do you go to school at?\u201d Ervin later claimed he didn\u2019t mean \u201chot\u201d in terms of physical appearance. Ervin has been censured (a formal condemnation) but is still on the board.<\/p>\n

Lebanon conflict drives mental health crisis for displaced women<\/p>\n

Israel has been bombing Lebanon for weeks now, but on Wednesday it upped the ante and struck densely packed residential areas of the capital, killing more than 300 people in 10 minutes<\/a>. UN Women estimates that one-quarter of all women and girls across the country have been displaced since 2 March and the conflict is driving a mental health crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland introduces two weeks\u2019 paid leave after a miscarriage<\/p>\n

It is the first region<\/a> in the UK to provide paid bereavement leave to parents suffering pregnancy loss through a miscarriage before 24 weeks. Paid miscarriage leave varies around the world: India offers six weeks, New Zealand gives three days and the US obviously doesn\u2019t give any.<\/p>\n

The McDonald\u2019s CEO blamed his tiny burger bite incident on his mother<\/p>\n

A clip of Chris Kempczinski eating a teeny bite of his company\u2019s \u201cproduct\u201d and looking as if he hated it recently went viral<\/a>. He explained to the Wall Street Journal<\/a> that he doesn\u2019t loathe McDonald\u2019s, it\u2019s just that his mother taught him not to speak with his mouth full.<\/p>\n

Remember, everyone: calling for a ceasefire is bad, but rape jokes are fine<\/p>\n

It would certainly seem that way, considering the Barstool Sports founder, Dave Portnoy, is holding an event at New York\u2019s prestigious 92nd Street Y later this year. Portnoy has made rape jokes<\/a>, faced credible<\/a> accusations<\/a> of sexual misconduct (he claims the encounters were consensual) and called for Greta Thunberg<\/a> to be bombed. Apparently that\u2019s fine for the 92NY. What isn\u2019t fine is speaking up for Palestinians. In late October 2023, the center abruptly cancelled an event with the Pulitzer prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen because he signed an open letter<\/a> expressing empathy with \u201cboth Palestinians and Israelis\u201d, and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The week in pawtriarchy<\/p>\n

A pet bunny called Flopsy disappeared from her home in the UK four years ago. Her family gave up on her ever coming home until an Easter miracle happened. On Easter Sunday, they saw a Facebook post about a rabbit that had been found in a field near their home and, lo and behold, it was Flopsy<\/a>. Stay put now, Flopsy, no more bunny business.<\/p>\n