NPR

'The Art Of Her Deal' Aims To Show Melania Trump As An Influential Collaborator

The flattening effect of political discourse, insipidity of the first lady role and Melania's own remoteness have led us to either forget she has an inner life — or to imagine her an elegant prisoner.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump depart the White House on May 27.

From the outside, Melania Trump looks like a woman in over her tastefully balayaged head. At public events, she rarely speaks, but assumes the rictus smolder — like a model who has just spotted a lion over the photographer's shoulder — that inspired a thousand #freemelania signs.

A new, scrupulously reported biography by reporter Mary Jordan counters this perception, arguing that the first lady is not a pawn but a

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