With her squinted, glowing eyes and pursed lips, Melania Trump looks more like the rich aunt with the Birkin bag than the sweet Barbara Bush-esque grandmother trying to feed you the contents of her kitchen cupboards. Her beauty and dress sense make her more suitable for a runway than the West Wing of the White House. Her coldness is palpable. This and her absence from public life make her the most mysterious and unpopular first lady in American history.

Melania was largely uninvolved in her husband’s recent presidential campaign and, more understandably, was absent from the four recent trials of Donald Trump. One of them was the criminal case in which he was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Aside from a few sightings at Mar-a-Lago, the couple’s Palm Beach resort, one might rightly wonder if Melania was still in the country. When Donald Trump was shot at by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks at a rally in Pennsylvania a few months ago, his wife was watching on television.

But now the former FLOTUS is speaking out for the first time since her husband’s presidency. Earlier this month, she wanted to tell us, “My Story, My Perspective, the Truth,” in a video posted on social media, which will culminate in her upcoming memoir: Melaniais scheduled to be released on October 8, less than a month before the presidential election. Why now, you may ask, after four years of saying nothing of substance and very little even during her time in the White House?

While the change in their PR strategy is intentional, the methods are certainly strange. And her sudden re-emergence into public life has so far raised more questions than answers. We posted eight perfectly shot video clips to her This is not just my story, it serves as a warning to all Americans, a reminder that our freedoms and rights must be respected,” to motherhood “The lessons I learned from this experience are profound and they have uplifted me a way that I do.” “I never could have imagined it,” to Bidenomics, free speech and, bizarrely, her nude modeling pictures.

In the most notable video, she asks, “Why do I proudly stand behind my nude modeling work?” as images of John Collier flash Lady Godiva and Michelangelo David. “The more pressing question is, ‘Why did the media choose to question my homage to the human form in a fashion photo shoot?'” The problem is that they didn’t. At least not for almost a decade. Ms Trump’s nude photos – one for a French magazine in 1995, then another for British GQ on Trump’s private jet in 2000 – have barely been mentioned since the 2016 election. While it may have been a flash in the pan to the rest of the world, the media’s focus on Melania’s supermodel past is clearly something that has been on her mind over the last decade, and I suspect it will play a big role in her memoir.

By attempting to present a counter-narrative to something no one is actually saying, the videos offer a glimpse into what the once and possibly future first lady is thinking about, what worries her, and the fact that she may not be so immune to the The public is as it has appeared for a long time. According to those close to her, “Melania felt burned by the media after repeatedly letting her in and screwing her over, especially them.” Daily Mail.” To be fair, she did make some glaring faux pas, like, “I really don’t care, do I?” During a trip to a detention center for migrant children, Melania had a pretty rough ride as FLOTUS. In her first few months of work, the designers refused to dress her. Marc Jacobs said he had “no interest” in her wearing his clothes, while Tom Ford claimed “she’s not necessarily my image.” After photo shoots with Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, Nancy Reagan, Michelle Obama and most recently Jill Biden, as fashion Editor Anna Wintour was asked why Melania wasn’t in it fashion As First Lady, she replied: “I think it’s important for fashion to support women who are driving change in this country.”

If the mysterious teaser videos don’t captivate you, don’t worry, there’s more. Melania Trump also sells her own merch. This week the former first lady unveiled her “2024 Limited Edition Ornament Series” called “Merry Christmas, AMERICA!”, in which she sells brass Christmas tree ornaments for £90 each.

In contrast to her husband, Melania Trump feels completely comfortable away from the public eye. After winning the 2016 election, it took her more than six months to move from New York City to the White House, and it is widely speculated that if the Trumps win in November, she would not even consider moving fully Washington DC to switch time. She does what she wants, and what she likes is to avoid attention and not tell anyone what she thinks. But their virtual absence from the campaign trail and the center of American political life is untenable. Her latest leap into the news cycle is her recognition of this. The memoirs, the videos, the Christmas baubles: This is how she puts her retreat of several years back in order. This suggests that, like her husband, she is willing to change her strategy when she has something to sell. If she does it right, Melania could be exactly what Trump’s campaign needs.

(See also: Volodymyr Zelensky takes his war to small-town America)