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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Melania Trump has generally maintained a low profile since leaving the White House in January 2021 and has avoided commenting on her husband's second presidential bid beyond endorsing his campaign during a Fox News interview in May.
The former first lady has worked on a number of money-making and charitable projects, including receiving a payment of $155,000 from a Donald Trump-supporting Super PAC for her work as a "design consultant" for one of its dinners and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) online.
Trump announced he is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in November 2022. Polling is currently giving him a comfortable lead over his closest competition, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. With her husband facing multiple criminal charges, Melania's actions are likely to attract significant attention in the upcoming presidential race.
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Melania hasn't appeared alongside Trump at a political event since November 2022, when the firebrand Republican launched his 2024 presidential campaign from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Melania hasn't joined her husband at a single campaign rally, nor was she present when he was indicted in New York and Florida.
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The former president is facing charges related to his alleged payment of hush money to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, and over his handling of classified documents since leaving the White House. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.
Speaking to Fox News in May, Melania did endorse her husband's election campaign, saying: "My husband achieved tremendous success in his first administration, and he can lead us toward greatness and prosperity once again. He has my support, and we look forward to restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength."
Earlier that same month, she hosted a meal at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her "Be Best" initiative, which she launched as first lady to support American children and fight the opioid crisis. Since leaving the White House, Melania has supported the Be Best "Fostering the Future" program, which has granted university scholarships to a number of children who went through the foster care system.
Newsweek reached out to Melania Trump via the press inquiry form on Donald Trump's official website for comment.
Melania has been paid to speak at a number of public events, receiving two payments of $250,000 for her presence on two separate occasions in December 2022. One of these was hosted by Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ+ GOP group, while the other was from Fix California, which was founded by a former Trump administration official.
In December 2021, she received $155,000 from the pro-Trump Super PAC Make America Great Again, Again, with the payments being made for "event planning and consulting" according to Federal Election Commission submissions. The New York Times reported that the former first lady's role included "choosing tableware, arranging settings and picking floral arrangements" for a dinner.
On Instagram, Melania has been heavily promoting the sale of NFTs themed around American history, including "1776" and "Man on the Moon" collections. The latter, released to coincide with the 54th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, caused some controversy online as it contained a NASA image, which the agency says shouldn't be used for NFTs. Newsweek called NASA for comment.
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