Melania Trump Speaks Out About Los Angeles Wildfires
Plus, speculation swirls about why former First Lady Michelle Obama missed Jimmy Carter’s funeral service.
Incoming First Lady Melania Trump expressed her concern for all those affected by the wildfires erupting in the Los Angeles, California, area that have yet to be fully contained, have claimed 10 lives as of Friday morning and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Mrs. Trump made the remarks in a news clip released Friday teasing an upcoming interview by Fox News scheduled for Monday on “Fox and Friends.”
“It’s devastating. I’m thinking about those people and I pray for them,” Mrs. Trump said in the clip. “So many people lost their homes … I just hope that everybody evacuated and that they are all safe.”
Mrs. Trump also expressed her hope that the government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would be there to help the people affected by the catastrophe. Click here for more information on how to help those affected by the wildfires.
The Weekly Wrap
The Weekly Wrap is a collection of headlines from the past week. Some publications have paywalls.
Politico
Michelle Obama, Who Would Have Sat by Donald Trump, Misses Carter Funeral
Jan. 9, 2025 — Former first lady Michelle Obama was noticeably absent from former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday. She had a scheduling conflict and is in Hawaii, according to a person familiar with her schedule. Michelle Obama would have been seated next to former President Donald Trump, who instead sat next to former President Barack Obama. Read more
East Wing Magazine
The State Funeral: Remembering President Jimmy Carter
Jan. 9, 2025 — A few days before the state funeral motorcade stepped off from Americus, Georgia, Kathryn Cade, former projects director for Rosalynn Carter and board member of The Carter Center, shared with East Wing Magazine the former president’s engagement with the Office of the First Lady, his reliance on Rosalynn Carter and the confidence he had in his wife to help carry out the work they set out to accomplish in the White House.
“I know that when Mrs. Carter passed, President Carter missed her desperately and the whole quality of his life changed dramatically,” Cade says. “I think these years of hospice have been difficult ones without his beloved wife. So for me personally, I know he’s at peace.” Read more
The Cut
This Take on Melania’s Collar
Jan. 9, 2025 — Melania Trump, bucking her usual uniform of Dior skirt suits and Dolce & Gabbana fitted coats, opted instead for a look—at least from the shoulders up. Her long black coat was topped by an extra-wide, pilgrim-esque collar printed with images of a Renaissance sculpture of a kissing couple. Read more
PBS News
WATCH: Donald and Melania Trump Visit Jimmy Carter’s Casket at U.S. Capitol
Jan. 8, 2025 — President-elect Donald Trump, who has alternated among praising, criticizing and even mocking Jimmy Carter, came Wednesday to the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects as the 39th president lay in state ahead of his funeral Thursday in the nation’s capital. His wife, incoming First Lady Melania Trump accompanied him. Read more:
NBC News
Bidens Welcome First Great-grandchild After Granddaughter Naomi Biden Gives Birth
Jan. 8, 2025 — First Lady Dr. Jill Biden shared a photo of herself and the president holding their great-grandson on Instagram later Wednesday with the caption “We are proud to introduce you to our great-grandson: William Brannon Neal, IV.” Read more
Rolling Stone
Amazon Is Paying $40 Million for Melania Trump Vanity Doc: Report
Jan. 7, 2025 — Weeks after Jeff Bezos dined with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Amazon has struck a massive licensing deal involving future first lady Melania Trump. According to Puck News, Amazon has agreed to pay $40 million in order to license a documentary and a limited series about Mrs. Trump. The documentary is set to be directed by disgraced Hollywood director and producer Brett Ratner, who in 2017 was accused of sexual assault and harassment by several high-profile actresses. Read more
East Wing Magazine
Pat Nixon and Edith Wilson: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Two Iconic First Ladies
Jan. 6, 2025 — Former First Ladies Pat Nixon and Edith Wilson had more in common than what set them apart. Alan Lowe, the host on the newly launched American FLOTUS podcast sits down for an in depth interview with authors Heath Hardage Lee, biographer of The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady and Rebecca Boggs Roberts, biographer of Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson in a new episode that drops Monday. Read more
East Wing Magazine
Hillary Clinton Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
Jan. 5, 2025 — Hillary Clinton was among 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Honor that President Joe Biden awarded Saturday in the East Room of the White House, making her the fifth former first lady to receive the honor. Read more
FOX News
Melania Trump, Amazon Partner to Release New Film About her Life in Theaters Worldwide
Jan. 5, 2025 — Amazon Prime has exclusively licensed a documentary film for global theatrical and streaming release that will give viewers an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at First Lady Melania Trump's life, Fox News Digital has learned. Read more
East Wing Magazine
Together, the Carters ‘Changed the World’
Jan. 4, 2025 — It was a sunny, cold January morning, when a motorcade led by sleek black sports utility vehicles stepped off from Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, carrying the late former President Jimmy Carter. On Saturday, the motorcade began its journey of a dayslong final goodbye for Carter, the 39th president of the United States who died at age 100 in his sleep on Dec. 29 at home. It traveled roughly 10 miles through his hometown of Plains to a stop 3 miles farther at Carter’s Boyhood Farm in Archery. Read more