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When Donald Trump<\/strong> was charged<\/a> last year by the Manhattan District attorney\u2019s office for allegedly trying to cover up the hush money payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels, Melania Trump<\/strong> made her feelings on the situation pretty clear by opting not to attend<\/a> his post-arraignment speech, despite it occurring at her own house. What are the former first lady\u2019s thoughts on the matter one year later, with the trial now officially underway<\/a>? According to a new report, they appear to have evolved\u2014but only slightly.<\/em><\/p>\n The New York Times<\/em>\u2019 Katie Rogers,<\/strong> who wrote a book on first ladies, reports<\/a> that Melania has privately called the legal proceedings \u201ca disgrace,\u201d and believes, per the Times,<\/em> that \u201cthe trial itself is unfair,\u201d according to people familiar with the matter. She apparently also shares the ex-president\u2019s opinion that the case amounts to election interference. Yet it appears that the former first lady\u2019s feelings with regard to the alleged affair her husband had\u2014which he has long denied\u2014have not changed. Per the Times:<\/em><\/p>\n In January 2018,\u00a0when she first saw reports\u00a0that her husband had paid off a porn star, Melania Trump was furious\u2026. She canceled a trip to Davos, Switzerland, with Mr. Trump, made an impromptu visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and then she jetted off to Mar-a-Lago, the Trumps\u2019 beachside fortress in Palm Beach, Fla., where she spent part of her trip relaxing at the spa. She eventually reappeared, only to take a separate car to Mr. Trump\u2019s State of the Union address and appear on the arm of a male military aide.<\/p>\n As a criminal trial against Mr. Trump\u00a0opened on Monday, on charges that he had falsified records to cover up that sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels, Mrs. Trump did not appear. She has long privately referred to the case involving Ms. Daniels as \u201chis problem\u201d and not hers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n As Rogers reported<\/a> in her book, American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, From\u00a0Hillary Clinton\u00a0to Jill Biden,<\/em>\u00a0Melania\u2019s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham<\/strong> said that Melania \u201cwas pissed at Trump\u201d when she first learned of the hush money payment, and \u201cwanted him to be a little humiliated\u201d that she canceled the Davos trip and skipped town. In addition to not showing up for the first (or second) day of the criminal trial this week, the former first lady has also been largely absent on the campaign trail, including during Trump\u2019s Super Tuesday victory party<\/a>\u2014which, like the post-indictment speech last April, was also conveniently held at her house.<\/p>\n Obviously, it would be a good look for Trump if his wife appeared with him in court, or defended him in any way\u2014and according to her former press secretary, Melania seems to know it. \u201cAt the end of the day, she can make or break his candidacy,\u201d Grisham told the Times<\/em>. \u201cAnd at the end of the day, she could probably make or break him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n