Russian strike an ‘insult’ to Melania as the first lady wields quiet influence on Trump

The New Daily
Sep 03, 2025, updated Sep 04, 2025

Melania Trump says the US needs to prioritise the wellbeing of young people with new laws. Photo: AAP

Russia’s massive drone and missile strike on residential buildings and a kindergarten in the centre of Kyiv this week is being flagged as a personal insult to US first lady Melania Trump.

Melania made an open plea to Vladimir Putin on behalf of the children of Ukraine in a letter her husband, Donald Trump, personally handed to the Russian President during their Alaska meeting in August.

In the letter, she implored Putin to restore the “melodic laughter” of Ukrainian children following international outcry over their abduction by invading forces.

Instead, Putin directed a strike on the Ukraine capital that killed at least 23 people, including four children.

“This strike was an insult to our first lady. It was also an insult to President Donald Trump, who personally handed his wife’s letter to Putin at their Alaska summit,” former White House speech writer Marc Thiessen wrote in a Washington Post column this week.

“Of course, Putin has been intentionally targeting children since the start of the war,” Thiessen wrote, citing figures from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine showing that more than 3560 schools have been hit by Russian missiles, drones, artillery and even cluster munitions.

UNICEF estimates that, on average, about 16 Ukrainian children are killed or wounded every week.

While Melania Trump has spent less time at the the White House this administration than in her husband’s first presidential term, analysts say the first lady is strategically influencing policy – especially when it comes to issues related to children.

After news of Melania’s letter to Putin, Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdoğan publicly urged her US counterpart to speak out against the deaths of Palestinian children in Gaza.

Melania hasn’t stated a public position on Ukraine or Gaza, but her reactions – as described by the US President – appear to offer him a different perspective on the wars.

“She sees the same pictures that you see, that we all see. And I think everybody, unless they’re pretty cold-hearted — or worse than that, nuts — there’s nothing you can say other than it’s terrible when you see the kids,” he said.

Anita McBride, former chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush and director of American University’s Legacies of America’s First Ladies Initiative, said Melania “has been consistent in her focus on the safety of children and their future”.

Melania was born in the former Soviet bloc state of Yugoslavia in 1970, and it is thought she brings a healthy dose of skepticism to the motives of former KGB officer Putin.

“I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today — we had a wonderful conversation’. She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit’,” Donald Trump recounted during a July Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

McBride said Melania brought another level of credibility, having grown up in a Europe “under the control of Russian aggression before successfully gaining their country’s freedom”.

“First ladies have a unique moral authority. … I applaud Mrs Trump for using her platform this way on things that are important – especially in this critical moment in world history,” she said.

Missing Melania

Melania Trump is rarely seen publicly and did not accompany her husband when he delivered her letter to Putin in Anchorage, Alaska.

She was also absent from the White House days later when Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders.

In fact, as of the end of August, Melania had made public appearances on just 19 days of the presidential term, compared to the 40 at the same point during the her husband’s previous presidency.

The first lady’s staff is a fraction of those of her predecessors and and much smaller than her first-term team.

However, Trump is in frequent communication with his wife and often shares texts or calls throughout the day, according to sources quoted by CNN.

Melania shares her time between New York and Palm Beach, with lengthy gaps between her trips to Washington.

Her last confirmed White House appearance was on July 11 when she left with the President for a trip to flood-ravaged Texas.

Melania has stood by Trump’s side at more than a dozen public events, joined him on two tours after extreme weather damage and held three solo events.

By the same point in Trump’s first term, she had attended multiple Oval Office meetings and news conferences with world leaders, and made trips to seven countries.

This term, she has not participated in any solo foreign or domestic travel, nor has she announced plans for any official state visits.

“When she speaks, people do listen – and whether or not that’s because it’s so infrequent, I’m unsure,” a source familiar with the Trump’s relationship told CNN.

“But she definitely has a platform. She should lean into that,” they said.

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