Politics - News Analysis

Video Recently Uncovered From 1999 Shows Melania Saying She’d Be a ‘Traditional’ First Lady Like Jackie Kennedy

Old footage from a nearly 20-year-old interview with ABC News has revealed that Melania Trump has been thinking about her role as first lady for the last two decades.

“I will be very traditional like Jackie Kennedy,” a 26-year-old Melania Knauss tells then-correspondent Don Dahler, in an interview that first aired on December 3, 1999.

“I would support him,” she said while dating then-boyfriend Donald Trump, and adding, “I will do a lot of social obligations.”

It’s important to note Donald Trump was still technically married to second wife Marla Maples when this interview was conducted.

At the time the interview was filmed, Melania and Donald had just started dating. They would be married six years later. Donald Trump had already made his presidential aspirations clear by that point, launching an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2000 and flirting with running in 2012 before finally launching a full-scale bid in 2016, ultimately pulling off one of the biggest surprise victories in the nation’s history.

In her 1999 interview, Melania was apparently ready to address some of the most pertinent issues of 2016 and beyond. When asked if she had a problem with Donald’s reputation as something of a playboy, Melania did not seem to mind.

“It’s a man thing, and sometimes I find it very cute,” she said.

She would later maintain that mindset in 2016, referring to the infamous Access Hollywood tape as “boy talk” and hinting that Donald was “egged on” to make remarks about sexually assaulting women. More recently, she has downplayed the reports that Donald had an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly after Melania gave birth to the couple’s son, saying the allegations were “not concern” for her.

Melania Trump already does have one thing in common with Jackie Kennedy — both were known for standing by their husbands amid rumors of extramarital affairs.

Donald Trump in the past has likened his wife to the beloved former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, saying, “We have our own Jackie O, it’s called Melania, Melania T.”

Trump has often talked up his wife as a strong asset in the White House, and Melania Trump seemed to channel Jackie Kennedy during her husband’s inauguration when she wore a powder blue dress and long gloves.

The president’s comments on his wife came during an extended interview with “Fox & Friends” and were part of a larger discussion about Trump’s plans to repaint Air Force One. When Fox’s Brian Kilmeade cautioned the president, saying that the current style had been “iconic for so long,” Trump replied that the color scheme no longer fit.

“I like the concept of red, white and blue,” Trump said. “It’ll look much better, actually. The baby blue doesn’t fit with us.”

Trump offered a preview this week of his redesign of the iconic planes in a red, navy, and white scheme that has the look and feel of Trump’s private plane. The redesigns are not expected to be completed until 2024, and Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that his changes are “for other presidents” and not for himself.

Trump on Friday then commented on his relationship with the first lady and on her feminine style, mentioning an incident in which she drew criticism for traveling in high heels to survey the damage from a Texas flood.

“When I go speak in big crowds, we have tremendous crowds and so many people are holding up banners,” Trump continued, saying that the banners often contained admiration of Melania, including “we love high heels.”

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