section_path: Public image/First tenure as first lady
section_name: First tenure as first lady
paragraph_text: First tenure as first lady
  
  In her first tenure as first lady, Trump worked to protect her privacy as first lady, and her staff was instructed not to answer any questions about her whereabouts at a given time. With limited information, commentators have portrayed her as being a reluctant companion to her husband or as a woman who has no independence of her own. Several incidents during her husband's presidency led to rumors that she had a secret animosity toward her husband, such as her delay in moving to the White House and allegations that he had committed adultery. The rumors led to popular use of the hashtag #FreeMelania by those who believed them. Though she disliked the idea that people saw her as helpless, Melania found the campaign amusing. This became less common by 2020 as she had become more publicly associated with the role of first lady. She is often seen as cold by the public, though people who interact with her describe her as a warm presence.
  
  As with previous first ladies, Trump's fashion was heavily scrutinized, and particularly expensive pieces were criticized. More than other first ladies, her fashion was scrutinized in the context of her past as a fashion model and her marriage to a billionaire. She did her own clothes shopping, but she was assisted by designer Hervé Pierre, hair stylist Mordechai Alvow, and make up artist Nicole Byrl. When preparing for speeches, she dedicated more attention to her physical appearance than content or delivery, which her staff felt affected her ability to promote her causes. Despite her experience in fashion, she disliked that it was such a major aspect of news coverage about her as first lady.
  
  Having a Slovenian-born woman as the American first lady became a point of national pride in Slovenia, and it gave the nation a sense of recognition on the world stage. Trump's hometown Sevnica has developed a small tourist industry around her, and Melania-themed merchandise was common during her tenure as first lady. These items never used Melania's full name, substituting it with "first lady" or "M", as she is protective of her personality rights.
  
  During the 2016 presidential election, Trump became the only candidate's spouse since polling began in 1988 to have a disapproval rating greater than their approval rating. Her approval rating stood at 36 or 37% in the months leading up to becoming first lady in January 2017, but it increased to 57% in a CNN poll in April 2018 after she received public sympathy amid allegations that her husband had committed adultery. Trump finished her tenure in 2021 as the least popular first lady since polling began with a rating of 42%. Multiple polls during her tenure as first lady showed her as the most popular member of the Trump family.
  
  In December 2020, the Siena College Research Institute released a study surveying scholars and historians on their assessments of American first ladies. It was the fifth such first ladies study that the Institute had conducted since 1982, and the first in which Trump appeared. She was ranked as being the worst of 40 assessed American first ladies, receiving the lowest assessments in all of the metrics that were weighed. In supplementary question asked of respondents (beyond the weighed criteria), Trump was ranked as the first lady who historians and scholars most-believed "could have done more" while first lady, with 34% of respondents selecting Melania as their top-choice for that descriptor. In another supplementary question, Trump's "Be Best" was ranked the least-effective signature initiatives among the ten most-recent first ladies.
  
  In her first tenure as first lady, Trump worked to protect her privacy as first lady, and her staff was instructed not to answer any questions about her whereabouts at a given time. With limited information, commentators have portrayed her as being a reluctant companion to her husband or as a woman who has no independence of her own. Several incidents during her husband's presidency led to rumors that she had a secret animosity toward her husband, such as her delay in moving to the White House and allegations that he had committed adultery. The rumors led to popular use of the hashtag #FreeMelania by those who believed them. Though she disliked the idea that people saw her as helpless, Melania found the campaign amusing. This became less common by 2020 as she had become more publicly associated with the role of first lady. She is often seen as cold by the public, though people who interact with her describe her as a warm presence.
  
  As with previous first ladies, Trump's fashion was heavily scrutinized, and particularly expensive pieces were criticized. More than other first ladies, her fashion was scrutinized in the context of her past as a fashion model and her marriage to a billionaire. She did her own clothes shopping, but she was assisted by designer Hervé Pierre, hair stylist Mordechai Alvow, and make up artist Nicole Byrl. When preparing for speeches, she dedicated more attention to her physical appearance than content or delivery, which her staff felt affected her ability to promote her causes. Despite her experience in fashion, she disliked that it was such a major aspect of news coverage about her as first lady.
  
  Having a Slovenian-born woman as the American first lady became a point of national pride in Slovenia, and it gave the nation a sense of recognition on the world stage. Trump's hometown Sevnica has developed a small tourist industry around her, and Melania-themed merchandise was common during her tenure as first lady. These items never used Melania's full name, substituting it with "first lady" or "M", as she is protective of her personality rights.
  
  During the 2016 presidential election, Trump became the only candidate's spouse since polling began in 1988 to have a disapproval rating greater than their approval rating. Her approval rating stood at 36 or 37% in the months leading up to becoming first lady in January 2017, but it increased to 57% in a CNN poll in April 2018 after she received public sympathy amid allegations that her husband had committed adultery. Trump finished her tenure in 2021 as the least popular first lady since polling began with a rating of 42%. Multiple polls during her tenure as first lady showed her as the most popular member of the Trump family.
  
  In December 2020, the Siena College Research Institute released a study surveying scholars and historians on their assessments of American first ladies. It was the fifth such first ladies study that the Institute had conducted since 1982, and the first in which Trump appeared. She was ranked as being the worst of 40 assessed American first ladies, receiving the lowest assessments in all of the metrics that were weighed. In supplementary question asked of respondents (beyond the weighed criteria), Trump was ranked as the first lady who historians and scholars most-believed "could have done more" while first lady, with 34% of respondents selecting Melania as their top-choice for that descriptor. In another supplementary question, Trump's "Be Best" was ranked the least-effective signature initiatives among the ten most-recent first ladies.