One day after Trump told the UN he’d “annihilate the Islamic Republic” of Iran, his wife sat down with Fox News to grade his performance so far.
Brian Kilmeade asked her straight out on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday: how was Trump 2 stacking up against Trump 1? Melania’s answer didn’t exactly overflow with enthusiasm. “He’s very focused. He has a lot on his plate. It’s very different, what’s going on around the world now. But I think he’s doing the best that he can,” she said.
She did add some warmth to the assessment. “He works nonstop. He has the most energy than anybody. He’s from morning until evening nonstop working,” she said, a line Kilmeade seemed to agree with, telling her, “That’s what we see.”
Brian Kilmeade: How’s the president doing in Trump 2 as compared to Trump 1?
Melania: He’s doing the best that he can. https://t.co/aQtEJJAp4o
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) September 23, 2026
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The interview came the morning after Trump’s UN General Assembly speech, and Melania had been in the room for it. Asked how she thought he’d done, she offered a review with a bit more polish. “I told him he had great delivery, he did very well. And a great speech,” she said.
She also described her role as an honest sounding board once the cameras stop rolling. “I tell him the truth. Sometimes he doesn’t want to hear it, what I tell him, but that’s okay. I always say the truth,” she said.
Trump himself had gone looking for her mid-speech at the UN, after crediting her with helping secure the return of “many displaced Ukrainian and Russian children.” He scanned the chamber and asked aloud, “Where is our First Lady? Where is she? She’s around here someplace. Can you imagine? I can’t see the First Lady.”
Melania has taken an active role in that particular effort, telling Fox News she has “a direct channel with Russia, and with Ukraine” and that her team continues working to reunite displaced children with their families. Trump echoed that focus in his own remarks, telling the UN he was “working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we will get that one done.”
Not every question in the interview stayed on foreign policy.
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt brought up the “Melania” documentary that came out earlier this year to largely negative reviews, and pitched an idea for a follow-up. “I hope in the next movie, you take us into your closet because you dress so beautifully, always!” she said.
The appearance doubled as a launch spot for Imperia, a new women’s leadership summit Fox News is partnering on, which the hosts described as something like a “Davos for executive women.” Melania was scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange later that same morning.
Featured image via X screengrab
