Melania Trump Hits Back At Claims That She Wants To Leave The White House

On Friday, the first lady found herself getting dragged into her husband's long-running feud with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, after Brzezinski claimed that Melania Trump wants to leave the White House. Trump responded to Brzezinski's comments on the same day, denying there was any truth to the assertion.

"I know Melania," Brzezinski told InStyle. "I haven’t talked to her in months, but if my gut is right, I don’t think she’s going to put up with it much longer. I know nothing. That’s just my instinct and I go with my gut and my gut’s always right. I’m just telling you, Melania’s got the worst job in the country and I don’t think she wants do it a lot longer. I think she will do it for as long as she has to for her son, and that’s it."

Trump's press office soon released a statement downplaying any familiarity Brzezinski may have with the first lady. “It is sad when people try to further their own agenda by commenting on me and my family, especially when they don't know me," read the statement.

The subject of how much affection Trump feels for her husband recently became a hot topic after she was caught on camera rebuffing the president's attempts to hold her hand on more than one occasion. In early May, her Twitter account also "liked" a tweet joking about the cold relationship between she and her husband. "Seems the only #Wall @realDonaldTrump's built is the one between him and @FLOTUS," read the tweet in question. A spokesperson later claimed that the first lady had been "unaware" that the tweet had been added to her favorites.

Melania and Barron Trump moved into the White House earlier this month. The pair waited until 11-year-old Barron finished his term at his New York City school before heading to the capital. Katherine Jellison, who teaches history at Ohio University, said Melania's presence in the White House would be helpful in improving the public's perception of the Trump marriage. "The move helps to give the impression that the president is currently in a stable, solid marriage and that his home life is under control," said Jellison.

President Trump's feud with the Morning Joe hosts was reignited on Thursday when Trump tweeted multiple tweets attacking the show and, most notably, Brzezinski's appearance. "She was bleeding badly from a face-lift," he wrote, referring to the way Brzezinski looked during a visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago gold club.

Despite having previously expressed her intention to start an anti-cyberbullying campaign, the first lady defended her husband's comments.