Melania Trump's Sit-Down Interview Sets Up New Memoir

Plus, Hillary Clinton reflects on "basket of deplorables" remark.

The Weekly Wrap is a collection of headlines from the past week. Some publications have paywalls.

Fox News

Melania Trump Opens Up After Assassination Attempts on Her Husband: Surviving Both Were 'Really Miracles'

Sept. 25, 2024 — Former First Lady Melania Trump recalled how she found out about the two assassination attempts on her husband's life in an exclusive sit-down on “Fox & Friends,” her first television interview in more than two years.

“I ran to the TV and I [rewound] it and I watched it,” she said, referring to the assassination attempt on former President Trump, which played out on live television at a mid-July rally in Butler, Pa. View here

The New York Times

Melania Trump’s Interview on Fox News: 3 Takeaways 

Sept. 26, 2024 — Melania Trump said she blamed “leaders from the opposition party and the mainstream media” for creating conditions that led to two assassination attempts against former President Donald J. Trump. Read more (This story is behind a paywall)

Former First Lady Sec. Hillary Clinton speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month. (Credit: Democratic National Convention)

The Washington Post

Opinion Hillary Clinton: To Err Is Human, to Empathize Is Superhuman

Sept. 25, 2024 — Like anyone who is trying to understand how normal people get drawn into a life of hate and violence, I went for a canoe ride.

Shannon Foley is a former white supremacist who now works to deprogram and rehabilitate people leaving hate groups. Shannon took my daughter, Chelsea, and me canoeing near her home in Athens, Ga. It wasn’t lost on me as we paddled along that we weren’t far from the site of the last documented mass lynching in America, Moore’s Ford Bridge, where a mob of 20 armed White men shot and killed two Black couples in 1946. One of the women killed was seven months pregnant. To this day, no one has been held accountable for their murders. Read more (This story is behind a paywall)

The Associated Press

Melania Trump Is Telling Her Own Story — and Again Breaking Norms for American First Ladies 

Sept. 25, 2024 — Melania Trump is the first lady who has seldom been there. The wife of Republican presidential candidate and former chief executive Donald Trump walked directly into the fire of public scrutiny early, when her debut speech to the 2016 Republican National Convention drew immediate charges of plagiarism. Since then, it has been clear that she rejects the tradition-bound idea that participation is mandatory while married to a president of the United States. On stage during a rare appearance at Trump’s side during the RNC in July, Melania Trump showed affection to her husband and waved to the delegates—but said nothing.

She’s speaking up now. Read more

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden speaks at the United Nations General Assembly Monday in New York City. (Photo screenshot from Core Group’s “Leaving No One Behind: An Inclusive Future for All” session)

East Wing Magazine

Jill Biden Speaks to Human Rights at UN Summit

Sept. 24, 2024 — First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Monday reaffirmed the White House’s support to Ukraine in a gathering of worldwide first ladies and gentlemen convened by Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska at the United Nations General Assembly’s Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in New York City. It was one of three speaking stops at the summit for Dr. Biden. Read more

First Lady Jill Biden attends the Clinton Global Initiative 2024 Annual Meeting at New York Hilton Midtown on Monday in New York City where she announced $500 million from the Department of Defense to go toward women’s health research. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images)

East Wing Magazine

Jill Biden Announces $500 Million for Women’s Health Research

Sept. 23, 2024 — First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Monday announced that the Department of Defense will commit $500 million to women’s health research as part of the White House’s initiative to increase funding and research for women’s health. Read more

CNN

What Detail Political Author Says Is ‘Unusual’ About Melania Trump’s Paid Appearance

Sept. 23, 2024 — One of the few times Melania Trump has appeared at a political event on the campaign trail this year, she received a six-figure paycheck—a highly unusual move for the spouse of a candidate. Author Kate Andersen Brower joins CNN's Pamela Brown to discuss. View here

CNN

Melania Trump Was Paid for a Rare Appearance at a Political Event. It’s Not Clear Who Cut the Unusual Six-figure Check 

Sept. 23, 2024 — Melania Trump has barely been seen on the campaign trail this year. One of the few times she has appeared at a political event, she’s received a six-figure paycheck—a highly unusual move for the spouse of a candidate. Read more

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden speaks to guests during the opening ceremony for a new White House educational center called “The People’s House: A White House Experience” on the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday in Washington, DC. The center opens to the public on Monday. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) 

East Wing Magazine

Jill Biden Celebrates Opening of New White House Educational Center

Sept. 23, 2024 — First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Saturday celebrated the opening of a new educational and interactive space called The People’s House: A White House Experience from the South Lawn of the White House designed to give visitors a close-up look at spaces usually unseen by the public in the White House. Read more

CNN

GPS Extra: Hillary Clinton on Being First Lady: ‘It’s Not Really a Job’ 

Sept. 22, 2024 — Former First Lady Sec. Hillary Clinton talks with Fareed Zakaria about the complications of being the first lady to former president Bill Clinton: “You're only there because the person you married ends up being the president.” View here