Donald “welcomes” Melania’s abortion hug

A reporter known for having sources with deep roots in Donald Trump's orbit said Friday she believes the former president would “welcome” his wife's newly revealed pro-abortion stance.

Maggie Haberman, by The New York Timessaid the newspaper The daily podcast that Melania Trump taking such a bold public stance as supporting abortion rights during her marriage to Trump “would make him happy.”

“I think there is a world where this is not a hidden attempt to mitigate him,” Haberman said. “Although I imagine that would welcome it and make him happy, and it was simply a way for her to express her thoughts and get attention.”

Melania Trump's comments on abortion were revealed on Thursday The Guardian published excerpts from her forthcoming memoirs, Melania.

Reuters

“It is imperative to ensure that women have the autonomy to decide their preference for children based on their own beliefs, free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” the former first lady wrote.

She added: “Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to decide what she does with her own body? A woman's fundamental right to individual freedom and her own life gives her the power to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes. Restricting a woman's right to decide whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my adult life.”

Melania Trump's stance on abortion puts her in direct conflict with that of her husband, who has long advocated for appointing the right-wing Supreme Court justices who toppled her Roe v. Wade and ended nationwide access to abortion.

Trump, meanwhile, has made no attempts to distance himself too forcefully from his wife's beliefs. When asked about her stance on abortion, he told Fox News on Thursday night that he urged her to write from the heart.

“We talked about it and I said, 'You have to write what you believe in,'” Trump said. “‘I’m not going to tell you what to do. You have to write what you believe.'”

The ex-president added that his wife, who has been notably absent from the campaign this campaign, is “very popular.”

“People love our former first lady, I can tell you that,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether Melania Trump has enough influence over her husband's decision-making to get him to back down on his anti-abortion policies – such as leaving it up to the states, many of which have shown a willingness to ban abortion to completely prohibit it under all circumstances – remains to be seen.

While she wrote that she has maintained her beliefs about abortion throughout her adult life, she has previously been quiet on the matter — something Haberman noted on Friday's podcast.

“Former White House aides don’t remember her talking about it, one way or the other,” Haberman said. “When he was in office, abortion rights were not a small issue. He was in the middle of appointing that conservative Supreme Court supermajority that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, and she's apparently against it, and her husband still has a lot of trouble articulating what he actually thinks about abortion while saying he supports Roe v. Wade finished and he is very proud of it. So I don’t know how those two things fit together or how voters will receive it.”