Melania Trump 'thinks Sean Spicer is doing a bad job' defending her husband
Melania Trump reportedly thinks that White House press secretary Sean Spicer is not doing a good job in defending her husband in front of the media.
The first lady, who has previously been criticised for staying away from public events in Washington and remaining in the couple’s New York apartment.
But she nonetheless keeps a close watch on how her husband is portrayed in the press and alerts him on stories that make him look bad.
She was really concerned that Spicer was not doing a good job, that they [press team] were not proactive in defending the president”, one outside advisor, who speaks to Mr Trump regularly, told the Politico website.
As a result, Mr Spicer’s role is expected to change after Mr Trump returns from his trip overseas.
The press secretary's on-camera appearances have been plagued with multiple gaffes and he was temporarily dropped from running daily press briefings after his poor handling of Mr Trump’s decision to fire FBI director James Comey.
Mr Spicer’s blunders arguably began during his first press briefing when he claimed President Trump drew “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe”, contradicting available evidence.
He was later forced to apologise, saying he had been given bad information.
Mr Spicer also sparked fierce criticism after he claimed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was guilty of worse acts than Adolf Hitler because Hitler did not use chemical weapons.
The press secretary then stirred the media when he cited an unverified Fox News report, which falsely claimed British security services helped Barack Obama to spy on Mr Trump.
The First Lady is also reportedly concerned the White House communication and press team are not doing enough to defend the US President and has been troubled by leaks in which West Wing aides criticised Mr Trump.
The White House has been engulfed in fresh chaos last week, with reports of aides allegedly turning up televisions to drown out shouting between other top aides after claims Mr Trump revealed classified information to Russian officials.
But the recent discord followed leaked reports of paranoia and suspicion inside the White House, where aides have claimed rivals factions have tried to undermine and embarrass each other.
Some aides reportedly feared their phone conversations would be leaked to the press by enemies and some are leaving their personal phones at homes and using encrypted apps to avoid being tapped. Mr Spcier cracked down on his own staff earlier this year with random phone checks in a bid to stop the leaks from happening.
Other sources previously told Politico they were concerned some intelligence operatives were working to undermine Mr Trump by leaking classified information.
”The leaks bother her. She believes a lot of people are more interested in serving themselves than him,” one outside advisor told Politico.
Ms Trump is believed to have acted as a private watchdog over her husband, looking over his public image and warning the president’s aides on the campaign trail when she believed a story could have been handled better. And her opinion seemingly was taken into account.
Former campaign adviser Sam Nunberg said: “She would consult with us, she would send me things. She was concerned when there was this ridiculous reaction to some of Trump’s statements. [Trump] would say to us ‘Melania said this, well Melania told me that.’”
Ms Trump is expected to move over to the White House in the summer after her 11-year-old son Barron finishes the school year. She will then be closer to the President, where her opinion could weigh in even more.
