Melania Trump savaged for motherhood op-ed, saying feminism hurts kids – The Mercury News
Today's e-Edition
Get Morning Report and other email newsletters
Get Morning Report and other email newsletters
Today's e-Edition
Trending:
As America knows, Melania Trump is a mother who is said to be so devoted to son Barron that she reportedly opted to stay in New York City when her husband returned to the White House for his second term so that she could continue to be a “hands-on” mother to the 20-year-old when he started his first year of college.
So, it’s possible that her experience of mothering her son, while married to a wealthy real estate developer and reality TV star, informs Melania Trump’s belief that she should use her platform as first lady to pen a piece on motherhood for the Washington Post, ahead of Mother’s Day. In her op-ed, headlined “Mothers are America’s strength,” Melania Trump tells America how it should honor mothers but mostly tells women can they can be better mothers.
One key piece of advice from the wife of Donald Trump: Disavow feminism.
“In doing so, America can restore the honor of motherhood after years in which feminism often placed career above family, with consequences to our nation,” her op-ed said.
Immediately after Melania Trump’s op-ed went live, it was inundated with hundreds of comments, hitting more than 1,700 by early afternoon, as the Daily Beast reported. The piece was savagely roasted for pretty much everything, starting with questions about whether the Slovenian-born former model actually wrote it herself. “This article is so ChatGPT!!!” one person said.
In the piece, Trump writes that “a mother’s devotion to her child is unmatched” and “the love between mother and child has helped shape America’s identity since the nation’s founding 250 years ago.“
Trump therefore casts mothers as “the foundation” of American democracy and as the “first teachers of empathy, aspiration and discipline.” The piece ends with the first lady advising mothers to make time for “self-care” and reels off a list of her own initiatives.
People have had lots to say on more general themes of women’s role in society and on government’s role in supporting families, especially in response to Melania Trump saying she cares about the struggles of modern mothers.
“It is time to revisit the enduring American family traditions that have supported generations, while also recognizing the challenges for mothers of building both a career and a home,” Melania Trump wrote. “This balancing act reflects the realities women face today.”
Melania Trump also expressed particular admiration for “the strength and dedication of single mothers,” who must handle all parenting responsibilities alone. While Melania Trump received a few compliments for being “a class act” and for writing an op-ed that was “a lovely tribute to mothers,” such comments were few and far between.
More characteristically, a comment that was liked by more than 200 people sternly began, “Dear Melania — you have no idea (and I mean NONE), what women of America go through raising their children.”
This person further admonished the first lady: “So, please stop. You, who have no empathy, are not entitled to pretend to care about single women, working mothers, or children,
“Your husband cut child care funds,” this person continued. “Your husband cut aid to children across the world. Your husband cut health care funding — particularly — Medicaid — which helps so many children and mothers. Your husband and his crew of pretend Godly men want women to have a boatload of children but given the new restrictions, will have a very hard time finding care.”
Other people likewise blasted Melania Trump for touting “empathy” when she wore her infamous, “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket during a 2018 visit to migrant children, who had been separated from their parents under one of her husband’s hardline immigration programs.
People also questioned whether Melania Trump could personally speak to trying to master that “balancing act,” given that she married a wealthy real estate mogul and didn’t have to work while rearing Barron.
“She lives a life of excess and materialism and she’s telling mothers — some who work two and three jobs — to do more at home but make sure they take time for self care?” one person said. “She has raised an entitled nepotism baby and has done NOTHING with her platform as first lady. What a disgrace.”
Others questioned the man she chose to have children with.
“With all due respect, Mrs. Trump, you lost all credibility by marrying an infamously dishonest figure,” one person said, while another brought up reports that the president cheated on his first wife, Ivana Trump, with his second wife, Marla Maples, and that he allegedly cheat on Melania Trump, his third wife, with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006 shortly after she gave birth to Barron.
“It is beyond me that a woman who made choices to be completely dependent on a bullying older man would lecture the rest of us on motherhood,” someone said. “Picking a good, kind and loving father, not a bag full of cash, greatly influences the lives of our children.”
The Washington Post editorial page, which has shifted rightward under the ownership of Trump-friendly Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, also faced rebuke for giving this kind of platform to the controversial first lady. “I guess Bezos wanted to publish this for the rage-clicks. This piece says nothing,” one person said.
Melania Trump’s op-ed also comes after Bezos’ Amazon MGM Studios famously poured an estimated $75 million into licensing and distributing “Melania,” a documentary about her return to the White House after her husband was re-elected in 2024. The documentary was released earlier this year to scathing reviews from critics who called it “polished P.R.” a “vanity project” and a “disgrace.”
People similarly called Melania Trump’s op-ed P.R. a “disgrace.” A commentator asked: “Why am I reading this stuff from one of Melania’s handlers? Is this what the Post has come to?” More viciously, someone said about the Post’s decision to publish it: “As the formerly proud, powerful, and independent Washington Post sinks further and further into the MAGA cesspool … .”
Copyright 2026 The Mercury News. All rights reserved. The use of any content on this website for the purpose of training artificial intelligence systems, algorithms, machine learning models, text and data mining, or similar use is strictly prohibited without explicit written consent.