Opinion

Melania Trump Faces Uproar After Being Caught in Fake Charity Scandal

Hafiz Rashid
Fri, October 11, 2024 


While promoting her new book, Melania, on Fox News Tuesday, Melania Trump mentioned two websites, MelaniaTrump.com, and USMemorabilia.com, that she said supported “fostering children” and “fostering community.”

But neither website contains much information about specific charity efforts, Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News posted on X Thursday evening. Her research into USMemorabilia found that the website doesn’t mention any charities, or whether any proceeds from the website go to any charities. Instead, the website was focused on selling United States merchandise and NFT collectibles.

Likewise, MelaniaTrump.com seemed focused on selling products and not on charitable efforts. Jeske found that there was a section on Trump’s “Be Best” anti-bullying program that she spearheaded as first lady, but it didn’t have any links to a charity. She went to a section on the website titled “Fostering the Future,” but again, there was no information about a charity there either, only a link to send emails about scholarships or corporate sponsorships.

So, was the former first lady taking a page out of her husband’s book, and talking a big game about charity while doing very little? For years, Donald Trump had the Donald J. Trump Foundation, only for it to be exposed as a money-laundering grift, with Trump having to shut it down. His son, Eric, was even involved in the particularly egregious transgression of taking away money meant to fight against cancer in children. And this isn’t the first time Melania was caught in a fake charity scandal of her own.

On the surface, Melania Trump doesn’t appear to have committed any fraud or crimes, but, considering her own past and her family’s, maybe she ought to be more careful speaking. After all, the last thing the Republican presidential nominee needs is another scandal or extensive criminal investigation.