"On the second floor of their home right by the National Mall, Melania has the master bedroom all to herself."

"Her husband Donald goes to bed in what used to be a living room. But with a little creative thinking, as Kevin McCloud would say on Grand Designs, he has transformed it into a curated sleep space all of his own.... Trump appeared... to be engaged in a decorating arms race with Melania in the room next door. Trump was 'determined to have the better room'.... To this end he was said to have removed gold pieces that his wife had selected for the hallway and brought them into his own bedroom to sleep among them.... Sleep scientists, and Cameron Diaz, will tell you that separate bedrooms does not imply an unhappy marriage...."

From "Trump 'steals Melania’s decor to make his bedroom better than hers'/The latest insight into life inside the White House pits the president against his wife in a decorating arms race" (London Times).

The details in that article are taken from the new book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (commission earned).

West Wing?

I'm reading this Axios piece: "Ex-Biden aides give Jill's new book a frosty review":

View from the West Wing!

I know Trump has demolished the old East Wing, so there's no taking a view from it right now, but Jill Biden purports to give readers a "View from the East Wing." That's the title. (And that's a commission-earned link.)

I understand the Axios slip, because who would read a book about what went on in the East Wing? I'm sure Jill's view was what Melania articulated so well: "Who gives a fuck about the Christmas stuff and decorations?"

That's a "commission earned" link for the book, by the way. It comes out tomorrow. It's #1 at Amazon in the category "Sociology of Marriage and Family" and look at the competition:

Crazy stuff, no? Betty Friedan is still hanging on, there's something called "The Ethical Slut," and it's fits in "Marriage and Family," and why is orange the color of marriage? "Fair Play" is up there twice — once as a book and once as a deck of cards — but there's also "It Begins with You" and — clicking around — I'm confronted with....

President Trump would like you to appreciate his swirly hair.

He posts this at Truth Social:

He's saying, Look, her hair is swirling and mine is swirling too. Just a little. Not as much. But definitely swirling. Still masculine, but delightful. In that whirly swirly feminine way. The First Lady way.

"Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Jimmy Kimmel joked.

He was doing a routine on his show last Thursday, anticipating Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner and playing the part of an emcee at that dinner. Of course, he didn't know that there would be an assassination attempt that night.

See "Melania Trump blasts ‘coward’ Jimmy Kimmel over ‘hateful’ monologue delivered days before WHCD shooting" (NY Post).

Kimmel has apologized — remember when he apologized for joking about the assassination of Charlie Kirk — and even taken some responsibility:

Tim Dillon explains Melania's Epstein speech.

I like the detail in the interpretation of the line, "Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach."

Dillon translates: "Here's what she's telling you: We are rich.... I'm wealthy and I'm attractive. Many of you aren't either one of those things.

"Mr. Trump projected sang-froid about it all on Friday. 'I don’t mind anything having to do with Epstein,'"

"But he was talking about it again because of something his wife chose to do. Was he upset that she had single-handedly thrust this story that had so bedeviled him back onto front pages around the globe? 'No,' he said. 'I never get upset.' He said that after he watched Mrs. Trump’s statement, he thought to himself: 'She had a right to talk about it, because the fake news covers her so inaccurately. Would I have done it that way?' the president mused. 'Perhaps not, perhaps, I don’t know.'"

Writes Shawn McCreesh, in "Trump Says First Lady ‘Had a Right’ to Talk About Epstein/President Trump said in an interview that he had known his wife wanted to address rumors about the late sex offender at some point, but that he had not known exactly what she would say" (NYT).

My search of the NYT archive included a term that wasn't in the article: Ungaro. I was looking, as I usually do, for elite media coverage of a story I am seeing in lowlier media, which I generally eschew. In this case, that would be things like "Amanda Ungaro Arrived in the U.S. on Jeffrey Epstein's Plane at 17 — Now She's Going After Melania Trump From Brazil" (Yahoo!news). I guess you can say I'm just seeing one of those things the NYT deems not "fit to print."

Anyway... I enjoy Shawn McCreesh's writing at the NYT. I love the coverage of Trump's enigmatic responses. "I never get upset" — what a perfect answer to the question whether you are upset. It can't be true, but one appreciates the sang-froid.

Great word, sang-froid. Lord Byron used it in Don Juan:

In the mean time, cross-legg'd, with great sang-froid,

     Among the scorching ruins he sat smoking
Tobacco on a little carpet....

"It’s a little under four minutes long, all told, but you’ll watch it at least four times over, then wonder if it’s a joke, if Melania is a wind-up merchant playing a complex, hilarious long game..."

"... with an unknowable outcome, if AI has its grubby little robot mitts on it... or if it’s symptomatic of the damage social media has wrought more generally on words, on rhetoric, if a billion drivel-addled Instagram posts have rendered language so empty, so narcissistic, directionless, and light on pith, what more can you expect? Then you think: yeah, but she really did help get 19 kids back home to parents...."

Writes Polly Vernon, in "Is Melania Trump really a 'visionary'? She certainly thinks so!/Everything we learnt about the first lady from her recent White House speech" (London Times).

Vernon calls the speech "just mental." It's: "An elevated puking up of fundamentally unconnected words that do achieve a startling clarity a few times, just not in a good way — ie, when she declared herself 'a visionary,' which I’m not sure anyone should ever do (even if they are one)."

“Often alone, at the top, I follow my passion, listen to my instincts and always maintain a laser focus,” Melania continues.... “In solitude, my creative mind dances, feeding my imagination with originality. Attention to detail, demanding schedules and multi-tasking are everyday realities.”...

Listen for yourself:

Milestones in Feminism: The question is not what did the woman do, but what did the woman wear.

The retrogression is not really Trump's. It's Breitbart's. Trump is just passing along the publicity received by his wife:

Breitbart's opinion on aesthetics is worthless. Look what an ugly mess it is:

That's my screenshot from the Breitbart article.

Readers are expected to look past the drink this/don't drink this/robot puppy/robot bunny advertising and read what looks like a press release: "Melania Trump chose a gray textured wool bar jacket from Dior for the historic occasion, pairing it with a matching gray textured wool skirt, as well as a thin black leather belt from Dior and patent leather stilettos from Christian Louboutin."

A "bar jacket," I was curious enough to learn, is the kind of jacket Christian Dior thought perfect for women drinking cocktails in the afternoon at the bar at the Plaza Athénée hotel in in 1947. Did they have "bladder issues"? Did they dream of electric rabbits?

How dare they put a stereotypically old woman sitting on a toilet right next to the news of the First Lady's appearance at the U.N. doing whatever it was she was doing while wearing some very specific items of clothing!

"Can I ask a question I have been dying to ask? You all might think it is a weird question but I've always been curious. What is your favorite time of day?"

That's the utterly inane question Dana Perino asked Melania Trump on "The Five":

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard on television. I don't intentionally watch news on TV — sometimes it overflows onto me — so I'm not the best judge of how close to the bottom that is. 

For the record of things no one needs to know, Melania's favorite time of day is "very early morning." Why? Because it's quiet, you have your coffee, and you check your email.

ADDED: Of course, the film is getting terrible reviews — for example, "Melania review – First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda," by Nick Hilton in The Independent: 

"She... helped cut the trailer, which features a particularly arch interaction between husband and wife."

"'Did you watch it?' President Trump asks her over the phone, as she stands in her office in Trump Tower. 'I did not,' she responds. 'I will see it on the news.' It was a clip Melania chose herself. 'That’s the essence [of the movie],' says [Marc Beckman, her senior adviser]. 'People have never seen this part of their relationship before.' Melania as the chief executive, busy with other things. Trump as the sensitive husband. Melania then selected the marketing imagery, which was painted across billboards from the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles to Times Square in New York City. 'Melania’s vision is very symmetrical, right angles, black and white,' says Beckman, comparing the brand guidelines to those of fashion houses such as Chanel, Christian Dior and Bulgari. 'It’s all about supporting this luxury brand that she’s building.'"

From "Sensitive Trump, Melania the boss… inside the first lady’s second term/Her new documentary, which premieres this week, reveals the 55-year-old as the power behind the throne with firm views on her husband’s actions" (London Times).

Trump would like to be even more effusive in his female impersonation.

Strip away the context and it's fun for all:

First Ladies read a Christmas story.

It's not a competition. We cherish diversity of expression. It's all a matter of taste...

 

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A post shared by Johnny Palmadessa (@johnnypalmadessa)

ADDED: Sorry, I didn't see the slur on Melania's name until I put this up. I am offering the contrast among the ladies in a neutral spirit. Anyone who assumes Michelle's reading is superior to Melania's is simply being very conventional.

AND: Here's the full reading by Melania:

Melania Trump presents the White House Christmas.

Home Is Where the Heart Is
AMERICA’S CHRISTMAS

This Christmas, let’s celebrate the love we hold within ourselves and share it with the world around us. After all, wherever we are, we can create a home filled with endless possibilities. pic.twitter.com/VouZAtLpHU

— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 1, 2025

I laughed when I saw the picture of Trump on the windowsill, like Trump — mugshot Trump! — is a Christmas character — along with Santa and Jesus. But on rewatch, I see the emphasis on the United States as a political entity, in its 250th year. And there's George Washington on the other windowsill as if the windows are a time line from the origin point in the past to the present day. We see Jesus, but not Santa. There's nothing aimed at children here. It's elegant, not fun or cute.

Melanie reaches out to one of the frosted white ornaments. There must be one for every state, because it says "Georgia." We see the slogans "Fostering the Future" and "Be Best." [ADDED: I said there is "nothing aimed at children" in the decorations, but both of those these slogans indicate programs aimed at children.]

The animal that represents Christmas in this display is a blue butterfly. Is that a real species of butterfly or just a monarch butterfly rendered in blue?

"Who'd want to harm this beautiful bird?"

Sorry but we’ll never have this much fun ever again
pic.twitter.com/959k1V1Gky

— Arynne Wexler (@ArynneWexler) November 25, 2025

I love Trump's body language, and Melania seems genuinely amused.

"At the meeting her husband handed the Russian leader a 'peace letter' from his wife which called on Putin to restore the 'melodic laughter' to children suffering from the war in Ukraine."

"'Much has unfolded since President Putin received my letter last August,' said Mrs Trump, 55. 'He responded in writing, signalling a willingness to engage with me directly and outlining details regarding the Ukrainian children residing in Russia. 'For the past three months, both sides have participated in several back-channel meetings and calls, all in good faith. My representative has been working directly with President Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine. In fact, eight children have been rejoined with their families during the past 24 hours.'"

From "Melania Trump secures release of children abducted from Ukraine/The first lady said she was working ‘directly’ with President Putin to release more children that were brought to Russia" (London Times).

"Hughes’s libretto is full of smart, Maga-bashing one-liners, dodgy rhymes and contrived but nevertheless funny exchanges that (possibly) hold a mirror up to the weird actualite of family life in Trumpland."

"At one point we learn that the president has mistaken Melania’s body-double for his wife — with predictable consequences. The comedy isn’t subtle, but neither is its target."

From "Melania the Opera review — a sweary, funny first lady faces the music/The year is 2027 and Russia invades Slovenia: what would Melania do? The composer Jeremy Limb and singer Melinda Hughes dive into Trumpland in a smart, Maga-bashing piece" (London Times).

Is "actualite" a typo (for "actuality") or is the Times using the word the OED spells "actualité" (with an accent on the "e")? That word is defined as "An event from real life, a news item; (in plural) news, current affairs. Also: a work representing or recording such an event."

Among the quotes, from 1859, "the subject of her Saintship is not a matter of mere historical interest, but aspires to the dignity of an 'actualité.'"

"I can’t forgive them, they tried to hurt you"/"We can’t do this, we should stay safe, you’re not safe.”

Donald Trump and Melania Trump, each protective of the other, according to lipreaders quoted in "Trump and Melania’s finger-waving ‘spat’ was actually prez raving about UN escalator snafu: lip readers" (NY Post).

Camilla and Melania look at tiny books.

Well, the women had to do something. Something that will read as something on camera. Something metaphorical. There's the grand literary tradition of England, as represented by the bust of Shakespeare overseeing the ladies' encounter with literature of the miniature kind. The feminine kind. Look how dutifully the 2 women enact intimacy through the fingering of tiny books. Such meaningful nonsense!

I would love to have a transcript of Melania's internal monologue. Outwardly, she says things like, "Oh, beautiful. Very nice." What choice does she have?

May I have more information about her outfit? What was the thinking? Encase her in leather! Yes, she will embody the experience of a book — bound in leather. But she's so insanely large next to the teeny-tiny books. Any human would look ungainly next to these dainty objects.

Soon they address the gigantic book that had been looming in the background, exaggerating the tininess of the tiny books. Don't dare touch it! They'd been woman-handling the tiny books — without gloves — but they are warned off touching the humongous bird book. It's a first edition of John J. Audubon's "Birds of America." The ladies stand back in awe. 

King meets President... and the ladies who carry pocketbooks meet the lady who carries only herself.

The wind kicks up as the King steps forward and all the many ladies' hats threaten to undercut the extreme dignity. The First Lady waits until she's duly shaken hands with the King before she reaches up — at 16:57 — to steady her headgear.

Stick around until 18:35, and you won't be sorry, unless you hate horses, white horses, arrayed in fairy-tale style.

It's the King's very best carriage, lavishly festooned with gold leaf, the very frippery Trump's haters deplore in the Oval Office. Their slogan plays in my head: No Kings!

At 23:13, I get the answer to the question that's been puzzling me: How do they keep the horses from shitting? (They don't.)

I had thought there was no music, that somehow silence was the soundscape for the event, but at 24:07 I see musicians and notice faint music. Perhaps there was music all along and a telephoto lens on the camera is creating the illusion that it is much closer than it seems. The faint music informs us of our great distance from these illustrious characters.

At 25:00, the music is (or seems) louder. It's "The Star-Spangled Banner." A song about fighting the British. 

What are we seeing here? A dying party's last gasps?

Link to the London Times: here.

Excerpt: "As he told Vogue last July, 'I’m a fun, wacky guy. I’m a silly goose.' Take one look at his bizarre Instagram page... or his X account... and you’ll agree with that. Schlossberg often spends his time shirtless, talking about people’s looks. He has pondered Jesus Christ’s body type. He has commented on his own resemblance to Audrey Hepburn. He has wondered out loud whether Usha Vance is 'way hotter' than his grandmother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.And then there’s the video he posted this week. Donning a blonde wig and speaking in a Slavic accent, he pretended to be Melania Trump as he performed a 'dramatic reading' of her recent letter to Vladimir Putin about the welfare of Ukrainian children. On Tuesday he posted again as Melania, saying he would 'be going live, answering all of your questions on my show tonight.'"

And yes, I see what Gavin Newsom is doing. Suddenly, everybody's a comedian.