(Wide-brimmed) hats off to Melania Trump, who has got herself one of the cushiest gigs in existence. Technically, she is the US’s first lady, but she has made it very clear that she has no interest in any of the tedious duties that normally accompany the role.
The former model was hands-off during her husband’s first term and it seems she intends to be even more detached from public life now; no shaking hands with commoners or kissing screaming babies. She has been noticeably absent from Washington in the past month, so much so that when she finally reappeared at the White House on Saturday, for an annual dinner with state governors, the mere fact that she showed up made headlines.
It wasn’t just the first lady’s presence that got people’s attention; it was also her outfit. Trump has always liked to make a statement through fashion. (Who can forget the I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U? jacket she wore to a children’s detention centre?) For the National Governors Association shindig, she wore a svelte tuxedo that looked a lot like the get-up she had on for her official portrait. I am not a fashion critic, but Vogue noted that the portrait made her look “more like a freelance magician than a public servant”.
While that assessment may have been a tad unfair, Trump certainly seems to have lots of tricks up her sleeve. She may not be pulling rabbits out of hats, but she has conjured up a lot of cash from sycophantic billionaires and corporations: according to the Wall Street Journal, the first lady will get more than $28m (£22m) of the $40m Amazon has shelled out to make a documentary (or, perhaps more accurately, puff piece) about her life. Not content with that payout (which will barely buy you a dozen eggs these days), Trump has also apparently been shopping “sponsorships” for the film. “The pace and volume of the family’s moneymaking efforts so far are unprecedented, surpassing even the activity of Trump’s first term,” the Journal notes.
As for the freelance magician’s next trick? Let’s hope she gets her husband to disappear.
• Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
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