Melania Trump Book May Be More Money Grab Than Memoir

It seems likely that her her forthcoming book will be less like Michelle Obama’s Becoming and more like Donald Trump’s coffee-table burn books.

Melania Trump seems to have little interest in letting the public get to know the real her. She was an enigmatic figure during her four years as First Lady, and these days we rarely even see her. The most notable thing she’s done since leaving the White House is avoid nearly all of Donald Trump’s campaign and court appearances, sparking the “Where’s Melania?” meme. Last week she made a dramatic entrance to the Republican National Convention separate from the rest of her family and declined to give a speech supporting her husband’s candidacy, despite reports that she was repeatedly asked to speak.

So why is she releasing a memoir?

There are two likely explanations: (1) Melania likes money, and (2) her forthcoming book isn’t a typical political memoir.

For the past two years, Melania has barely said anything about her husband’s reelection effort; she endorsed him in a brief, off-camera interview with Fox News and her main contribution to the campaign has been hosting fundraisers for a group of LGBTQ+ Republicans. But during this time she regularly churned out overpriced merch, from NFTs to Christmas ornaments to an ugly Mother’s Day necklace.

On Thursday, the former First Lady’s office announced that she is releasing her first memoir, Melania, this fall. There is no specific release date, and it’s not even clear if the book will come out before or after Election Day.

Several outlets reported that Melania is putting out a “tell-all book,” which is a somewhat understandable assumption. The press release claims that the book will be an “intimate portrait” chock-full of “personal stories”:

Melania is a powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity and defined personal excellence. The former First Lady invites readers into her world, offering an intimate portrait of a woman who has lived an extraordinary life.

Melania includes personal stories and family photos she has never before shared with the public.

But that last bit — “family photos she has never before shared with the public” — may offer the biggest clue about what we can expect from Melania. And it isn’t the gossipy autobiography people are hoping for.

Donald Trump was widely mocked when his first post-presidential book turned out to be a coffee-table book chock-full of photos, not a several-hundred-page meditation on his presidency, like Barack Obama’s A Promised Land. But 2021’s Our Journey Together, Trump’s glossy burn book, sold well enough that Winning Team Publishing (a venture co-founded by Donald Trump Jr.) put out a second book. Last year’s Letters to Trump was exactly what it sounded like: another coffee-table book featuring letters other famous people sent to Trump, annotated with some petty insults written by the former president himself. On Thursday, Trump announced that he’s putting out a third overpriced picture book just before the election. It appears to feature the iconic shot of him surviving an assassination attempt, along with many older photos that did not make the cut for Our Journey Together.

President Trump has a new book coming - SAVE AMERICA! Go to https://t.co/EObbbiY5rV today to pre-order! pic.twitter.com/s21ZZw0TRd

— Winning Team Publishing (@WinningTeamPub) July 25, 2024

Melania has a different format than these three Trump books (she went with Skyhorse Publishing rather than using Don Jr.’s publishing company). The book will come in two versions. Here’s what the press release says about the $150 “Collector’s Edition”:

The Collector’s Edition is a hardcover book measuring 10”x13” featuring 256 pages in full color throughout, with each copy signed by the author. This edition is printed on premium art paper with a special custom white binding and adorned with black foil, blocking, and a ribbon marker. Purchasers will also have the option of receiving a digital collectible, which will be minted on the Solana blockchain.

And here’s what is says about the “Memoir Edition,” which retails for $40, or $75 for a signed copy:

The Memoir Edition is a 304 page jacketed hardcover book measuring 6”x9” including 48 pages of never before seen photographs.

The description is a bit unclear. Are 48 pages devoted to photographs and the other 256 pages are text? If so, why is the book “in full color throughout”? Should we expect 304 pages of text and photos, including some “never before seen photographs” and a bunch that were previously published?

Either way, it seems likely that this book is more Our Journey Together and less Becoming by Michelle Obama. But who can really say? The one thing we know about Melania is that she loves to keep us guessing.