Is Melania Really at Odds with the Prez Over LeBron … or, is This Just Another Trump Trick?

He expects nothing less than blind devotion from his family, those who serve in public office, the press, and all Americans. 

Since last week also marked the start of Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort’s high-stakes federal trial, the president was busy out-tweeting himself to jump ahead of the news cycle. 

Is Melania on Team Trump or Team LeBron? 

After watching CNN’s Don Lemon interview LeBron James, Trump fired off a missive on Twitter, attacking both Lemon and James. The following day, Melania Trump’s spokesperson Stephanie Grisham, released a statement that many believed was a sign that the first lady was on Team LeBron. 

“It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the first lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today. As you know, Mrs. Trump has traveled the country and works talking to children about their well-being, healthy living, and the importance of responsible online behavior in her Be Best initiative.” 

This week, 240 at-risk students will begin attending an Akron, Ohio school funded by the NBA superstar. The school will also provide support services for parents. In 2015, the athlete revealed an initiative to provide college scholarships to over 1,000 Akron students and he has also funded Wheels for Education, which provides kids with school supplies, computer access, and a bicycle as part of a program to motivate kids to complete their homework and earn good grades. 

However, it seems the White House is backtracking on the statement. On Sunday, one day after her spokesperson had issued the above statement, a senior White House official told NBC News that Melania Trump was not siding with James but rather with “children.” (Children were never the subject of Trump’s aggressive tweets.) 

“That wasn’t her taking sides--that was her office sticking to what she is focused on, which is using Be Best for what it is intended--to help children,” explained the White House official. 

The Takeaway 

We can surmise at least four conclusions from this latest snafu. 1. The Trump administration is run like one hand that doesn’t know what the other is doing. 2. Perhaps they need to hire a PR person with experience in Crisis Management. 3. Blind loyalty above values. 4. Melania’s Be Best platform is the policy equivalent of her caviar skin cream. All smoke and mirrors. 

What About Junior? 

Legally, things don’t appear to be looking up for Donald Trump, Jr., who has been at the vortex of the now infamous Trump Tower meeting. 

Sunday, President Trump did a complete 180 on his prior statements about the meeting that was held on June 9, 2016. Although he previously strongly denied that the meeting was for obtaining information about Hillary Clinton, Trump now admits his son met with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 to “get information on an opponent.” but argues that it was all “legal.” 

The June 2016 meeting he references was between three of the Trump campaign’s senior members (Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort) and at least five others, including Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. 

According to multiple media sources, including Washington Post, CNN, and AP, Donald Trump is worried his son may be in legal jeopardy. Trump, Jr. testified before Congress that his father knew nothing about the meeting. If that statement proves to be untrue, the president’s son could face charges of lying before Congress. 

When the meeting was first reported by the New York Times, Trump, Jr. issues a statement that he had met with Veselnitskaya to discuss a Russian embargo on US adoptions of Russian babies in response to US sanctions placed by the Magnitsky Act. Since then, he has admitted he had agreed to the meeting because he had been promised information that would be harmful to Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. 

Yet another turn in this “story”, Trump initially denied any involvement but his attorneys have confirmed that he had dictated his son’s statement about the purpose of the meeting.

While Donald, Jr. has been working double time to come up with a reasonable story to show loyalty to his father, perhaps ironically, President Trump’s recent tweets could place his son is even deeper jeopardy.

The Takeaway

1. The Trump camp (and family) need to work on coordinating their stories. 2. Nobody in Trump’s inner circle (including family members) should place any trust in him, especially when he has access to his Twitter account. 3. Junior better have a decent attorney.

Should make for an interesting Trump family Thanksgiving.

(Beth Cone Kramer is a professional writer living in the Los Angeles area. She covers Resistance Watch and other major issues for CityWatch.)

-cw