Melania Trump has launched a defense of her decision to pose in nude photo shoots over the course of her modeling career.
In a post on X published Wednesday to promote her new memoir, the former first lady narrates a video displaying some of the most recognizable artwork and sculptures of nude gods, heroes, and other icons.
Some of the artworks that Trump appears to liken herself to include John Collier’s Lady Godiva, a statue of Eve by Jean-Alexandre-Joseph Falguière, and Paul Cezanne’s “Les Grandes Baigneuses.”
Melania and Donald Trump attend the CFDA American Fashion Awards ceremony in 1999.
Fairchild Archive
To the background music of a dramatic symphony, the video poses two main questions.
“Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work?” is the first question.
But the “more pressing question,” according to the former first lady, is “why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?”
“We should honor our bodies and embrace the timeless tradition of using art as a powerful means of self expression,” she asserts before a dramatic pause is built into the music.
The video ends with a cover of her memoir, Melania, which is expected to be released in October. She has said she believes the book can “clarify the facts” regarding the scrutiny she has faced and settle the naked truth about her life and career.
Melania Trump posed nude on a plane owned by her future husband, Donald, for the cover of GQ magazine in 2000.
The images from the shoot resurfaced in 2016 during Trump’s presidential campaign, while other photos from a spread in a men’s magazine originally printed in 1997 were republished by New York Post.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump is joined on stage by his wife Melania at the Republican National Convention in July.
Andrew Kelly
Trump defended his wife at the time of the campaign in 2016.
“Melania was one of the most successful models and she did many photo shoots, including for covers and major magazines. This was a picture taken for a European magazine prior to my knowing Melania. In Europe, pictures like this are very fashionable and common,” he told the newspaper then.
