Melania Trump reveals the emotional toll assassination attempts have taken on her family

For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper's perch, not so far away. But by the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal, did not come close. And that was former President Trump returning to Butler, Pennsylvania yesterday, the site of the first assassination attempt where he was shot in the ear and nearly killed three months ago by a 20-year-old would-be assassin. It was the first of two assassination attempts on the life of the 45th president in the span of 64 days, which has taken a tremendous emotional toll on his family. I sat down with President Trump's wife, the former first lady, Melania Trump, to discuss her family's resilience and her new memoir, Melania, which is available this Tuesday everywhere. The book chronicles Melania's career from a small town in Slovenia with dreams of becoming an architect to opportunities in modeling in Paris and Milan and finally New York, where she meets Donald Trump and ultimately becomes the first lady of the United States. But I began on President Trump's return to Butler. President Trump going back to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt. How do you feel about that? I think it's great. I support him and he is a fighter. He will never stop. He's on the go every day. He's helping this country and he wants to make America great again, prosperous, safe. And I think the people of this country support him tremendously. And let's see what will happen on November 5th. I mean, why was it important for him to go back to Butler? I think he wants to finish what he came to do, to finish his remarks, his speech and show that we will not stop, that one shooter will not stop him. And you wrote about it in the book. You ended the book on the assassination attempt. The way you saw it, you played it back and then you watched it again with Barron. How do you feel today about it? It's still very hard to see it. And new videos comes out, new digital videos comes out, the way his head was positioned, what would happen if he would not turn his head. So it's very hard to watch. Do you trust the Secret Service? I have a great team and my detail around me and my husband as well. I think there are some holes, something is going on on the top level or it was when that shooting happened. I know some people changed the positions, but let's hope that will never happen again. You know, you talk about the top level. You can talk about the top level of all of these agencies, right? The FBI, the CIA, the top level appeared to be against President Trump and yourself from day one. Do you trust any of the agencies? Well, it's hard to say that you trust, right? Who you really trust. You want to, but it's always a question mark. You know, it's quite incredible to me that we are going on almost 10 years of these kinds of attacks against you and your husband, the president. Do you want President Trump to hold people accountable should he return to office? Well, that will be his decision. They have much more knowledge what is going on behind the scene. So I don't know what somebody did, didn't do, but I think everybody should follow the law. You write some things in the book that I didn't know. Your bank canceling your account, you know, this pushback from so many areas of your life that you never saw before. But suddenly the powers that be wanted to cancel you. What happened and how did that feel? It happened already in the White House and soon he announced for politics, but later on more when we left the White House, when I established my own business, as you said, the bank suddenly informed me they will not be able to do business with me anymore. Also, I had a very prominent email distribution service provider just rapidly terminated my agreement. So suddenly, as well as the university, I was all agreed that they will accept my donations for the foster students. And because of the board directors, they called back. They find out that it was me. They didn't. They said we cannot go on. And it's very, very sad because who suffered? They were children from foster community. They didn't have a scholarship that somebody will provide for them. They didn't want to do business with me because of political affiliation, my political beliefs. And that was one of them, one of the canceling project. Has it changed, do you think, in the last few years at all? I think some people got the courage and they said they see what's going on and they're not afraid to speak. But it's still going on. I think it's still cancel culture and that trend, it's still going on. Stay with us. More of my sit down with the former first lady, Melania Trump, right after this. Welcome back. Former first lady Melania Trump told me before she met Donald Trump, she studied industrial design and architecture, then got opportunities in modeling in Milan and Paris, but realized her American dream when she arrived in New York, thanks to courage and self motivation. More now of my exclusive with Melania Trump. The polls are so close right now. What are we, a month away from the election? You and President Trump may be back in the White House next year. Have you thought about what's most important to you and what role you'd like to take on should you get the chance again? I think the most important thing is to establish the theme around you, that they serve you because they serve the country. And what about the roles and the value that you will bring to the table? You've talked so much about children and women. Will that be a theme that you will get around or do new initiatives should you become first lady again? Correct. In fact, I will continue my Be Best initiative and expand and see also what is important at that time, because as we see, the world is changing so fast. And what will happen next year, we don't know. We don't have a crystal ball. So I will do my best that I can to support women, children and well-being of them. So after I left the White House in 2021, I established my two platforms, Web2 and Web3, blockchain platforms, that I create an art and collectibles, and all it's available on those two platforms, MelaniaTrump.com and USAMemorabilia.com. So with that, I established Fostering the Future initiative. What it does is providing the financial support for the children from foster care community. So they have education, and I'm very proud. I have many students now in universities, and they're doing very well and they're thriving. So if we are back in the White House, I will expand that and add more stuff. I have more ideas. Are you surprised by these polls that they're so tight? And President Trump talks about his plans all the time. You said drill, baby, drill. He talks about foreign policy, Israel, very close to his heart. And yet Kamala Harris, his opponent, has not talked very much about her plans. And yet the polls are so close. What do you make of that? I don't believe in polls. I never did. I think on the end, people really see it, what's going on in the country and how this leadership is performing. It's very sad what's going on, even in all of this country that they were hit with hurricane. It's heartening to see on the television the people that they are suffering and calling for government to help them. Well, you're right. And President Trump went to Georgia. He was first to go to Georgia. And then President Biden went after President Trump went. And also, he went to North Carolina, and now Kamala Harris is going to North Carolina. Those pictures are incredible, people hanging from trees. And now we learn that FEMA is out of money. Many congressmen have written to Alejandro Mayorca saying, why did you spend so much money on illegal migrants, and now FEMA is out of money? What can you do about that as first lady? I think what they need to do and what we can do is connect with businesses. So private businesses and big businesses that they could help. Establish foundations that they could help those people in need because they are suffering. I remember when I visited states when it was a hurricane. I was there with people. I was praying with them, sharing the stories, and also serving the food. And we were there with FEMA, helping them. And I think it's very important that they see that they have support behind them, and that they will be OK. Just the fact that you're on the ground gives people the support. Correct. Melania, you also write about abortion in the book. You write that you are staunchly for a woman's right to choose. You are pro-choice. You write, it is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference in having children based on their own convictions, free from intervention or pressure from government. Had you spoken to President Trump about that before you wrote that in the book? Yes, he knew my position and my beliefs since the day we met. And I believe in individual freedom. I want to decide what I want to do with my body. I think I don't want government in my personal business. I think it's very important. And as I said in the book, and it's very well explained in the chapter, what does really my body, my choice means? Because timing really matters, and also the restrictions. So I encourage people to read it. Because we live in the world that everybody should have individual freedom. It was interesting that you wrote this in the book right before a presidential election. Well, that was not written in the last week or the last month. Busier convictions. Correct. But that book was written months before, and it was in a print months before. So that was my belief, and it is my belief. And I wanted to put it in the book because I want to be authentic. I want people to read the book because they could find out a lot of things that were never discussed. I'm very selective what I do and when I'm doing interviews or not, or where I am or not. And this is my story. This is my perspective and the truth. And there is a lot of misinformation about me and falsehoods written about me. So that book, Melania, it will bring my truth and the truth. How do you think the Republicans and President Trump have handled this issue? He knew my beliefs, as I said. So he knew it would be in the book. He let me be who I am, and he let me believe what I believe. He let me be my own person, and he respects that. And I respect that, as I let him be his own person. He has different beliefs, and he will do what he believes. He will be elected official. And you're not worried about people saying, I can't vote for this ticket because of this issue? I don't worry. Everybody needs to decide what they want to do. Melania, you talk so lovingly about your mother in the book. I know you lost your mother in the last two years. Tell me about your mother. You got an outpouring of love after she passed. Yes, I did. And to everybody, I want to thank for beautiful letters, prayers, very kind notes. From all over the world, I got so many beautiful letters. And thank you for that, everybody. My mother was a special woman. President Trump has spoken so warmly about her as well. Did they like your then boyfriend and husband, Donald? Yes, yes. My husband is very warm, and he loves his family. And they have a beautiful relationship with my mother. He appreciated how helpful she was. She was always with us. And also, she was in the White House as well because she was helping us raising and taking care of Barron when we were traveling and being busy and serving the country. So yes, she lived with us even now all the time. She's with me all the time. Melania, what do you want to say to women who may have a picture of President Trump in their heads? They think they know who he is. What do you want to say to them that they may not know about your husband? They need to know that he is passionate about this country, passionate about women and men as well, everybody. He wants to make their life better, safe, prosperous. He's warm. He loves people. And I understand that maybe sometimes they see him tough. And some tweets, maybe they would not like it and they didn't like it. I understand that. But he needs to fight back too. When he's attacked, he needs to fight back. He only wants good for this country. The business of politics could be very mean. And cutthroat. It's very one day yes, one day no, one day they stand behind you, one day they don't. And it's a business that you need to be very tough and have a thick skin. And the fashion business gave me that because I arrived in Milan all alone and in Paris all alone, in New York all alone. So you need to be very strong and stand on your own two feet. Well, you must be very strong to have handled all of this and to be supportive of President Trump. Are you ready to do it again? Here we are. But 30 days from the election and people will decide what they would like for this country. But are you ready? We are ready. We are here. You will not get it anywhere else.