Awkward. Frosty. Cold. Dodged Questions. Would only talk about the weather.
If you happened to peruse the MSM headlines over the weekend, you may have seen those words and phrases associated with something former first lady Jill Biden wrote in her memoir, View from the East Wing, about current first lady Melania Trump.
I'll admit that I didn't read the book myself or even that little chapter or excerpt, but I did see dozens of articles about it, implying that Trump was cold toward Biden, particularly when they rode in a limo together to the 2025 inauguration ceremonies. These headlines also imply that Melania didn't want to answer questions about her son, Barron, and would only talk about the weather.
My first thought was: Who could blame her? Joe and Jill Biden and their administration — yes, their — treated Trump's husband terribly. Their FBI raided her underwear drawer at Mar-a-Lago. Their language helped contribute to the political climate that led to multiple assassination attempts against her husband. Personally, I wouldn't exactly want to share the personal details of my life or my child's life with people like that either.
Knowing that the conversations ended up in a book made it an even wiser decision. And I saw someone on social media call Jill a well-known scheming political operator — you don't share your secrets with someone like that.
Trump is also a master at only sharing the parts of herself that she wants with people who are not part of her inner circle. I imagine she has had no choice but to be, given how her family is treated by so many in this country. I think her background lends itself to that too. I have a friend who dated an Eastern European woman for a while, and he described her as being very measured and reserved when she needed to be, especially compared to women from other cultures. We've seen that from our current first lady, and I actually think it's admirable that she doesn't let the left or the media (am I being redundant?) walk all over her.
But once you get past these MSM headlines about this part of the book, you're left wondering: Where is the story? I'll use People magazine's version as an example because I've noticed it's become far more biased since Donald Trump started his second term. The headline reads, "Jill Biden Says Melania Trump Dodged Questions About Barron, Would Only Talk About Weather During Awkward Inauguration Ride." Here's how it begins:
In her new memoir published this week, former first lady Jill Biden detailed an awkward car ride on Inauguration Day 2025, claiming that incoming first lady Melania Trump ducked a range of questions asked in the vehicle and instead tried limiting conversation to small talk about the weather.
While first ladies and presidents have previously shared private moments with their successors and predecessors in spite of political animosity, Jill wrote in the second-to-last chapter of A View from the East Wing that Melania and her had spent very little time together over the years.
Jill said the Jan. 20, 2025, limo ride from the White House to the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol was the first time they had considerably interacted in close quarters, not counting their brief encounters at funerals for former first lady Rosalyn Carter in 2023 and former President Jimmy Carter just days before Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Also in the car with them was John Bessler, husband of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). According to Mrs. Biden, Bessler attempted to "break the tension" by asking Trump where Barron was attending college.
"NYU," she replied.
It goes on to explain that Melania told them that Barron has his own floor at Trump Tower and is escorted to and from class by Secret Service. She also mentioned that he hadn't made many friends at school yet.
I don't know about you, but I think I'm missing the "frosty" and "dodging questions" part of the conversation. It sounds like she shared details about her son that you would share with strangers, maybe even a little more.
"Melania kept trying to switch the topic to the weather," Biden wrote, claiming she tried to "get with Melania’s weather-only program" by expressing sympathy for the military dogs out in the cold along their route.
Bessler then asked if the Trumps had a dog, and Melania said no, that she had asked Barron many times if he wanted one, and he always said no.
Jill asked the current first lady about her father, given that her mother had just died. "She said he was doing okay, and he was there with them, then said, 'But you know, it’s only been a year.'"
Buried at the end of the article, Jill admits that she has sympathy for Melania given the raid on her private quarters because the same has happened to her. She even confesses that she knows that Melania blames Joe Biden for the raid.
In other articles, these outlets mention that Jill called Melania after the Butler assassination attempt against President Trump. "She was polite and controlled as ever," Biden wrote. "She said they were good and thanked me for calling."
I mean, what was she supposed to do, bow down and tell Jill how wonderful she is? These just sound like average conversations between acquaintances to me. I'm still waiting for the "awkward" and "frosty" and "dodging questions" parts. Let's face it: This was just another opportunity for the MSM to bash our first lady. They know many people only scan headlines, so they bury the facts deep within the articles.
