Melania Trump 2: She's Just As Bad As Her Husband

[thoughtful]

3 hours ago, Becky said:

Every time I see that squint, I want to ask when was the last time she had her vision checked. Lady needs glasses. 

I know. And, as I've said before, I always think of the "skinny eyes and big busts" scene in the original film of The Courtship of Eddie's Father:

Spoiler

 

 

[onekidanddone]

21 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

"Melania's Vision" is a breathtaking watercolor art by Marc-Antione Coulson, and embodies Mrs. Trump's cobalt blue eyes, providing the collector with an amulet to inspire."

The watercolor from Melania's website:

The artist and I have a very different concept of cobalt blue.

Sweet Beansie in a can those eyes follow you everywhere.  Do people deliberately want to give themselves nightmares?

[Xan]

3 hours ago, Becky said:

Every time I see that squint, I want to ask when was the last time she had her vision checked. Lady needs glasses. 

I think she's just had one too many eye lifts.  You do enough plastic surgery and, eventually, you end up with telltale signs like "look of perpetual surprise" and "permanent squint".

Here she is BD (before Donald) and before she had work done:

Spoiler

 

[thoughtful]

6 minutes ago, Xan said:

I think she's just had one too many eye lifts.  You do enough plastic surgery and, eventually, you end up with telltale signs like "look of perpetual surprise" and "permanent squint".

Here she is BD (before Donald) and before she had work done:

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I agree - in fact, I've posted that pic, as well.  But she could also be having trouble seeing.

Look at that innocent, open expression - I wonder if she ever was a person who could have ended up decent and happy, or if she was always shitty.

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

The pictures of her before she jacked with her face are always jarring to me because she looked so open-faced and girl-next-door in a lovely Slavic way.  She had such a certain old school Hollywood look and would have looked so lovely (and probably aged well) had she just left her features alone.  Instead, as can be seen by even some of her still pretty early modeling days, she went in for surgical changes to her face and breasts.  By the time she started dating Trump, those lovely almond eyes in the above picture were already stretched out and squinty, the pretty natural lips plumped up, and the cheekbones hiked up to a weird shape.  I am with @thoughtful in wondering whether she could have ended up decent and happy.  I have no sympathy for her at all, but the young woman in that picture above has a real smile that reaches her eyes.  She traded it for money and now has to squint at a world she must know despises her.  She has lost all the cache she used to have in her NY penthouse life and is a laughingstock.  

Also @thoughtful- thanks for that Courtship of Eddie's Father clip!  I have never seen the original movie.  "Squinty eyes and big busts" is priceless.  The clip itself is charming.  "Don't get mad, Dad."  The description of Melania and the comment about the "bad girls" in comics having those features is perfection. 

[Audrey2]

12 hours ago, Howl said:

And one more thing while I'm ranting:  "passion for art" doesn't involve vanity art, like "I have a passion for art so I commissioned someone to do a watercolor of my eyes!" 

I've got a passion for Art, but I'm still married to Donald.

[Xan]

Yeah, she's got such a passion for art that she doesn't seem to support artists or art shows nor does she attempt art herself.   However, she allows people to take and paints pictures of her.  How very noble.  /s

If we're discussing Melanie and art, I'd like to remind people of the sculpture that the people in her home country put up to honor her (before it got burned up.)

Spoiler

 

[Audrey2]

I wouldn't be too surprised if Donald had some kind of no glasses or contacts clause in the prenup.

[smittykins]

21 hours ago, AlmostSavedAtTacoBell said:

Also @thoughtful- thanks for that Courtship of Eddie's Father clip!  I have never seen the original movie. 

Yeah, the first time she posted it, I was like “Wait a minute, that’s not Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz!

…oh, it was a movie?”

[thoughtful]

21 hours ago, AlmostSavedAtTacoBell said:

"Don't get mad, Dad."

And "There's something else, but . . . it's about sex."

I'm generally not a big Glenn Ford fan, but he does well in this film.

When it comes to the female characters, the film has some aspects that are cringeworthy from a modern point of view, but some nice surprises that hold up well even today.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Melania got the Lincoln Project treatment:

 

[47of74]

Ugh, Malaria is back

Quote

After months of relative public silence, former first lady Melania Trump before Christmas emerged from private life to announce a new project: A piece of artwork, a watercolor closeup of her eyes, in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) was now available for purchase.

It was an unusual move for any former first lady, to delve into the world of blockchain sales, but Trump has never been a predictable nor typical political spouse.

"I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative," said Trump in a statement released via her social media platforms and on her website. Trump has since posted on her Twitter account 17 times about the endeavor.

Her NFT, entitled "Melania's Vision," and drawn by French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon, is available through December 31 through the cryptocurrency Solana, at a cost of approximately $175 -- depending on the market -- and has an authenticated identity via blockchain. The sales could be incredibly lucrative for Trump, one of several celebrities -- including Paris Hilton, Shawn Mendes, Tom Brady, Kate Moss and Grimes -- who have recently dipped into the NFT market and emerged hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars richer. Fans are often enticed by the opportunity to own a unique digital piece of memorabilia or original artwork.

 

[Dandruff]

On 12/17/2021 at 11:09 AM, onekidanddone said:

Sweet Beansie in a can those eyes follow you everywhere.  Do people deliberately want to give themselves nightmares?

I'd be perpetually squinting and watching my surroundings if I was married to him.

[GreyhoundFan]

[Cartmann99]

@GreyhoundFan, didn't Melania have a jewelry line on one of the shopping channels years ago?  The first sentence in that tweet sounds like an intro before the celebrity guest comes out to peddle his or her wares.

[GreyhoundFan]

28 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

@GreyhoundFan, didn't Melania have a jewelry line on one of the shopping channels years ago?  The first sentence in that tweet sounds like an intro before the celebrity guest comes out to peddle his or her wares.

Yes, on QVC. It consisted of "affordable" watches and jewelry and watches under $200.

[Cartmann99]

More about Melania's auction:

 

Spoiler

The NFT looks just like the watercolor except the black line on the side and top of her hat disappears and reappears as if its being drawn.

Spoiler

I wonder how the Macrons feel about their images being used this way?

[Howl]

Melania auctioning off her shit  + the NFTs is just her personal scam and maybe a bit of money laundering on the side.  But it's a little odd. Nobody is buying that it's for the cheeeldrin and the statements are deliberately vague about what percentage goes to charity.  

[fraurosena]

21 hours ago, Howl said:

the statements are deliberately vague about what percentage goes to charity.  

Not only vague about the percentage (0.0001% wouldn't surprise me) but also about the exact charity it's supposed to be donated to. Come to think of it, if the charity is one she 'owns' herself (on paper only ofc), then the percentage would naturally be larger.

[Cartmann99]

I did some digging, and this charity is a likely candidate for Melania's charitable contribution from her auction:

The tweet above was in an article about her visit to their facility. I also saw this:

Quote

In a statement, the President and CEO of 4KIDS, Kevin Enders, told The Floridian they were "honored to host Mrs. Trump in our Palm Beach office to share how we are bringing hope, homes, and healing to kids and families."

"Our families and young adults were blessed to share their stories and experiences with her during the visit. We are thankful for how generous Mrs. Trump was with her time and for blessing our guests with gifts for Thanksgiving," Enders said in a statement.

If you do a search on Kevin Enders, you'll end up here:

Spoiler

4KIDS also has a crisis pregnancy center:

Quote

His Caring Place

For over 30 years 4KIDS His Caring Place has provided homes and support for women facing unplanned pregnancies. His Caring Place prepares and equips women facing pregnancies and/or parenting young children to be successful moms. Our services are designed to take care of the everyday needs of young moms. Through these services, they are able to receive support, grow in independent living skills, and learn about God’s love. Our team is ready to advocate and encourage women in their own self-worth through community and mentorship.

 

 

[Xan]

I saw this on Twitter and couldn't resist:

Spoiler

One person asked, "Is she selling Donald's hat too?"

[Shrubbery]

Question: does she just want the money because hey, why not, or does she actually need to make money (and would rather not work), and if the latter, what for? Surely the smartest businessman in this universe isn’t going broke, and surely a devoutly Christian couple like the Trumps wouldn’t think of divorce, would they?

[Becky]

8 hours ago, Shrubbery said:

Question: does she just want the money because hey, why not, or does she actually need to make money (and would rather not work), and if the latter, what for? Surely the smartest businessman in this universe isn’t going broke, and surely a devoutly Christian couple like the Trumps wouldn’t think of divorce, would they?

Greed. Plain and simple. 

[GreyhoundFan]

On 1/8/2022 at 6:38 AM, Shrubbery said:

Question: does she just want the money because hey, why not, or does she actually need to make money (and would rather not work), and if the latter, what for? Surely the smartest businessman in this universe isn’t going broke, and surely a devoutly Christian couple like the Trumps wouldn’t think of divorce, would they?

Maybe there’s a requirement that to remain in the trump family, you have to concoct x number of schemes or y number of dollars of grift. She could have been hitting the expiration date and had to come up with something immediately. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Melania Trump auctioned off her hat, and became the latest victim of the cryptocurrency crash"

Quote

Melania Trump began 2022 by announcing she’d be auctioning off a hat, along with two other items, for the low, low starting bid of $250,000.

Her website, MelaniaTrump.com, allowed the bids only to be made in cryptocurrency. Remember this. This will be important.

She called the auction the “Head of State” collection. It included the custom-made, wide-brimmed white hat she’d worn to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, during the Trumps’ first state visit at the White House in April 2018 — autographed — plus a watercolor of Trump in the hat, and a non-fungible token, or NFT, depicting the image.

One year after leaving the White House, Melania Trump is remaking herself as an entrepreneur. In a vast departure from previous first ladies — but in keeping with her business trajectory before her husband became president, when she licensed her name to jewelry and skin care lines — she is reviving her personal brand for monetary gain.

That plan, though, has an unexpected gum in the works: the massive cryptocurrency crash.

“A portion of the proceeds derived from this auction will provide foster care children with access to computer science and technology education,” read a small disclosure on the auction’s website. The rest, presumably, will go to Trump herself. Trump’s office did not respond to questions about how much of the proceeds will be donated, and to which charity.

When The Washington Post checked the hat auction exactly two days before its indeterminate ending time (advertised as Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. PST, although a countdown clock on the website ran 24 hours faster than that), the starting bid had dropped to $155,916, and continued to fluctuate around that level. At an earlier point in the 14-day auction, the bids had reached more than $275,000.

But the auction was only accepting bids in cryptocurrency, which has taken a nosedive in the last week, with bitcoin falling 20 percent and Ethereum 30 percent.

Melania Trump’s hat auction may have become unlikely collateral damage in the crisis, a prime example of what happens when risk-taking intersects with terrible timing. The only cryptocurrency accepted on Trump’s website is Solana (SOL), which has been one of the hardest-hit, falling more than 40 percent over the previous week. The Solana blockchain (a distributed database that stores a secure and decentralized record of digital transactions) also had an outage on Friday and Saturday, further adding to its free fall. Had this auction taken place in December 2021, Trump would have been accepting bids in Solana during a surge in which its value had increased 11,150 percent since the beginning of the year.

Instead, Trump’s auction closed early Tuesday morning (again, a day earlier than advertised on the website), with the hat and its lot appearing to go for around $90,000 below the asking price. Bidding was at $160,218 and still open well past midnight on Jan. 25, but when The Post checked in on the auction at 3:30 a.m. PST — 19.5 hours before the advertised end time — the site read, “Auction Ended.” No final price is listed.

This is all happening at a time when the Trump family’s business practices are under intense scrutiny, including by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) who has filed evidence in a civil investigation against former president Trump and his three eldest children focusing on the ways he allegedly misrepresented his assets to secure favorable loans and insurance policies.

The former first lady’s post-White House endeavors have puzzled experts on modern first ladies.

“Most previous first ladies certainly have used their celebrity to do good works,” says Myra Gutin, author of “The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century,” citing Laura Bush’s post-White House advocating for Afghan women; Michelle Obama’s work supporting girls and education and fighting for voting rights; Rosalynn Carter’s continued hands-on volunteering for Habitat for Humanity; and Betty Ford’s rehab center and work to de-stigmatize addiction. “I would classify it [the auction] as a personal pursuit, versus one that’s likely to benefit the country,” says Gutin.

Selling significant items of clothing worn as first lady is also bucking tradition. Although they’re under no obligation to do so, typically, first ladies donate iconic items either the Smithsonian’s First Ladies collection, or to their husband’s libraries and museums, as a way of preserving history for the public.

The hat was custom-made for the occasion by Hervé Pierre, the French-born, New York-based designer who became her White House stylist after making her inaugural gown. (That one is in the Smithsonian.) “Mrs. Trump recognized this important moment for the country, and accordingly, a great deal of consideration went into the planning,” her website reads, explaining why she chose to auction off the hat.

“I’m not surprised when I see controversies surrounding her public activity,” says Lauren A. Wright, a political scientist who studies first ladies at Princeton University. “I never know, as I never knew when she was in office, whether she has advisers telling her, ‘You know, we might want to clarify how much of this is going to charity and how much is not.’ Or if she’s doing things and she just doesn’t think a lot about potential public backlash.”

Certainly, other first ladies and presidents have engaged in for-profit activities, particularly the large advances many of them receive to write their memoirs and for speaking engagements. “But that doesn’t take up nearly as much time as their not-for-profit activities,” Wright says. “That’s most of what they spend time on when they leave office.”

Melania Trump, of course, was always an unconventional first lady. She rarely spoke with the press and was “relatively inactive” in public, says Gutin. She also refused to campaign for Republican candidates — and often for her husband — even though polls showed her to be the most popular member of the Trump family. (Although she ended the administration as the least popular first lady ever, with a CNN/SSRS poll showing her to have a 42 percent favorable to a 47 percent unfavorable rating.)

She now mainly spends time with her sister, parents, and 15-year-old son, Barron, at Mar-a-Lago, according to People and CNN, and has a routine of lunch, dinner with her husband, facials, manicures and massages, often spending several hours a day at the spa or going twice in a single day.

“She seems to be reverting back to more of the life that she enjoyed when she was not first lady, when she was living in New York,” says Gutin. In New York, Gutin adds, she was “a consumer, and she’s always been someone who was very au courant with fashion and cultural trends.”

For most of the year, Trump appeared to be content to stay out of the public eye. Her Instagram begins with her farewell speech from the White House and features compilation videos of her meeting children; thanks for birthday wishes; and holiday greetings. But when a historian, Michael Beschloss, tweeted out a barren photograph of the Rose Garden last August and called Trump’s controversial renovation an “evisceration,” on its one-year anniversary, she came out swinging.

“@BeschlossDC has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy,” Trump tweeted. The most common critiques of the renovation had been that Trump took out the garden’s famous crabapple trees — many of which horticulture experts say were diseased or preventing sunlight from reaching the roses. The barren look of many early photos of the renovations are, experts say, because the flower bushes, were newly planted and not even close to full bloom. “The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy & colorful blossoming of roses,” her Tweet continued. “His misleading information is dishonorable & he should never be trusted as a professional historian.”

In many ways, it seems that Trump was always planning to return to branding opportunities. In February 2017, while she still living in New York City before moving to the White House, Trump filed lawsuits in the United States and Britain against the Daily Mail for insinuating that she’d worked as an escort. The cases were settled for a total of $2.9 million, according to the Associated Press.

Notably, the filing claimed that the tabloid’s insinuations had cost Trump “the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity … to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multiyear term during which Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world.” The lawsuit stated that Trump had the potential to launch product lines in, “among other things, apparel, accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care and fragrance,” to capitalize on being first lady — but had been thwarted by the damage caused to her reputation.

The ethics around profiting off the first lady’s office once you no longer occupy it are murky.

The hat auction marks only the second initiative Trump has undertaken in the past year. The first was the mid-December sale of an NFT featuring a watercolor painting of her eyes, called “Melania’s Vision,” by French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon, who also pained the hat NFT. Unlimited quantities of that NFT sold for one SOL, which was worth around $185 at the time. Each came with an audio message from Trump: “My vision is: Look forward with inspiration, strength and courage.”

Melania Trump is certainly not the only celebrity currently enamored with NFTs and cryptocurrency. Shawn Mendes, Eminem, and Grimes made millions selling NFTs of their images (only for the value to drop precipitously months later). Matt Damon has been featured in a crypto commercial and Reese Witherspoon recently tweeted about crypto being the future, both to widespread ridicule.

It is the uniqueness of NFTs, being digitally marked, authenticated and non-replicable, that seems to appeal to Trump, who used the phrase “one-of-a-kind” many times in advertising the hat, watercolor and NFT.

To look at Melania Trump’s Twitter feed, you’d think she’s an NFT spokeswoman. She has tweeted about her NFT sales 24 times since she launched “Melania’s Vision” on December 16, stopping only occasionally to send out Christmas wishes or praise the Coast Guard. A news release at the time stated, “Mrs. Trump will release NFTs in regular intervals.”

One page of her website is a 22-part FAQ answering such questions as “What is an NFT?"; “How do I create a crypto wallet?", and “Why buy an NFT?” Answer: Because it’s “a unique and secure digital asset” and, like the other collectibles, such as coins or baseball cards, it has the potential to increase in value and can be sold or traded, according to the website.

In contrast, the page dedicated to her former White House initiative, Be Best, has two paragraphs and a video. Trump has said she wants to continue Be Best, which concentrated on children’s issues such as cyberbullying, drug abuse and mental health. On Monday, Trump announced that she was being honored at a gala for her Be Best initiative Fostering the Future, which “provides foster care children with access to education in computer science,” Trump said in a Tweet.

Her website included no details about the Fostering the Future initiative, and it appears to be the first time she’s mentioned it.