A bout of COVID-19 came over the White House last week as the news broke out that both Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump contracted the virus along with other very close staff members. Contrary to her husband, an official revealed that Melania will not be leaving the White House as she focuses on her recovery.
CNN reports that a White House official has confirmed that the first lady will be staying inside the White House to focus on her recovery, upon confirming experiencing mild symptoms. Her decision also comes as a stark contrast to that of her husband, who decided to greet his supporters in a drive-by while he was receiving treatment for coronavirus at Walter Reed Medical Center, risking his Secret Service agents to exposure.
“Melania is aware of the dangers of COVID-19, potentially exposing others is not a risk she would take,” said the official.
Melania tweeted to her supporters on Monday, assuring them that she is doing very well and thanked the medical staff and caretakers who attended to her. A White House official also revealed that the first lady made the decision to minimize traveling and public events six months ago as she did not want to compromise the health and safety of her staff and her own.
The first lady has since sent mixed messages to the public since the beginning of the pandemic. She would be seen attending events either with or without a face mask on. Melania was the only Trump family member that kept her face mask on during the first presidential debate but removed it when she joined her husband on stage at the end.
Meanwhile, more audio recordings of Melania’s conversations with her former friend and aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff have been released. The latest recordings reveal her thoughts about Stormy Daniels, the woman who allegedly had an affair with her husband. Wolkoff released the recordings on Mea Culpa, the podcast presented by Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer who has now become a critic of Trump.
In the conversation, Melania complained about a photoshoot Vogue had done in 2018. “Go Google and read it,” she said. “Annie Leibovitz shot the porn hooker, and she will be one of the issues, September or October.”
When Wolkoff asked who Melania was referring to, the first lady replied, “Stormy.”