Be Best

She knew he was a snake before she married him.

Mrs. Trump, a former fashion model who prefers clean, modern lines, had chosen some furniture for the White House residence in the months before she joined her husband in Washington. Yet in her absence, President Trump — whose tastes veer toward the gilded, triumphal style of Louis XIV — replaced her choices with several pieces he liked better. One of two people familiar with the episode cited it as an example of Mr. Trump’s tendency not to relent on even the smallest requests from his wife.

A little more than a year later, Mrs. Trump remains an intensely private first lady still adjusting to the demands of a new life. She has few friends in Washington, keeps a light public schedule and when not watching over her 12-year-old son, Barron, returns home to New York — at least once per month, two people close to her say — for meetings and to visit a small circle of associates, including her sister and her hairstylist.

  

Pardon me a moment of cattiness: You call that a hairstyle? Maybe all they do is color it.

Her staff is small — 10 people, compared with more than 25 who worked for Michelle Obama or Laura Bush — and she has struggled to put substance behind a public service project, which the role of first lady now demands. The nascent progress of Mrs. Trump’s signature policy effort, a child-focused campaign called “Be Best,” was stymied this month with the departure of her policy director after six months on the job.

[...]

Allies describe Mrs. Trump as warm, engaging and witty, traits at odds with the totemic stance she often takes in public.

Witty? I very much doubt that. I'm from Missouri.

Just like her husband, she often ignores guidance from aides in favor of her own instincts, and directs her staff to fight back against news media coverage she dislikes.

[...]

This month her office issued a statement supporting LeBron James’s work with children — hours after the president insulted the athlete’s intellect on Twitter.

Little bitch bites. That's all she gets.

One friend of the Trumps in Palm Beach, Fla., said Mrs. Trump entered the relationship with Mr. Trump with her eyes open, and has weathered 13 years of scandal-plagued marriage and a rocky transition into the White House primarily for the benefit of keeping life stable for their son.

And the money? Pretty sure she would have had to sign a pre-nup that would leave her with a fraction of what she gets by sticking it out.

In private, a former White House official said, Mr. and Mrs. Trump give the impression that they like one another, but their rapport is not particularly warm.

No shit.

She maintains a separate bedroom from her husband, and when the two travel, they stay in separate hotel suites.

[...]

One person who has spent a considerable amount of time around her said Mrs. Trump was far more relaxed outside the presence of her husband than when he was around.

I bet that's right.

[M]ore ambitious ideas [for a signature project] were whittled down to “Be Best,” a name the first lady chose, with the broad goals of encouraging good online behavior and exploring solutions to the opioid crisis. At its rollout, the program was greeted with fanfare in the White House. Attendees were given a pamphlet and cookies decorated by White House chefs.

Wow.

The president suggested that Mrs. Trump choose a different topic to avoid questions about how the wife of a notorious Twitter bully could lead a campaign to spotlight anti-bullying and other child wellness efforts, and he warned her that she was opening herself to such jeers, people familiar with the conversations said. She rejected his advice, and publicly said she was willing to face the criticism.

Has she faced it? She so rarely comes out of her cave.

Despite a tightly controlled rollout and assurance from her aides ahead of the event, one White House official said, Mrs. Trump was still upset by accusations of plagiarism surrounding the launch of the initiative, and was frustrated by the president not backing her up, in public or in private.

Shortly after the rollout in May, she was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a five-day hospital stay to treat what her aides called a benign kidney condition.

I wonder if we'll ever find out what she was really in there for.

She did not appear in public for nearly a month, and since then has not participated in a dedicated “Be Best” event.

Have there been any?

The East Wing disputed any notion that “Be Best” has not been carried out as the first lady envisioned.

“It is exactly what she wants it to be, and has been a success,” Ms. Grisham said. “We look forward to continued success in her mission of helping children.”

Has it done anything at all?

While the Trumps vacationed in Bedminster, N.J., last week, Mrs. Trump appeared by his side at a dinner the president hosted with supporters [...] “I just want to thank the president for doing an incredible job,” she said to her husband, “and for all of your help.”

Bizarre.  It's probably in her contract.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.