Former first lady Melania Trump on Sunday defended her beliefs on abortion, which she detailed in an upcoming memoir and which seem to be at odds with those of her husband, former President Donald Trump.
“[Donald Trump] knew my position and my beliefs since the day we met. And I believe in individual freedom. I want to decide what I want to do with my body. I think I don’t want government in my personal business,” Melania Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in a pretaped interview that aired Sunday.
Her remarks come days after The Guardian published excerpts of her book in which she wrote, “It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes,” she added in the upcoming memoir, “Melania.”
The former first lady also voiced her beliefs in a promotional video for the book posted on X last week.
“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth,” Melania Trump said in the video.
“Individual freedom. What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?” she added.
Last week — about a month before Election Day — was the first time the former first lady had publicly shared her views on abortion, a particularly salient issue ahead of November as Democrats try to paint Donald Trump as someone who would seek to ban abortion if he’s elected.
In Sunday’s interview, Melania Trump addressed questions she has faced after going public with her views so close to the election, telling Bartiromo: “Well, that was not written in the last week or the last month. … That book was written months before, and it was in print months before. So that was my belief, and it is my belief, and I wanted to put it in the book, because I want to be authentic.”
Asked by Bartiromo whether she was worried that voters may change their opinions of her husband because of her views, the former first lady said, “I don’t worry. Everybody needs to decide what they want to do.”
The former first lady said Donald Trump “knew” her position would be in the book, adding: “He lets me be who I am, and he lets me believe what I believe. He lets me be my own person. And he does respect that, and I respect that as I let him be his own person. He has different beliefs and he will do what he believes.”
Melania Trump’s comments echoed her husband’s remarks to Fox News on Thursday, in which he said: “We spoke about it, and I said, ‘You have to write what you believe. I’m not going to tell you what to do. You have to write what you believe.’”
“She’s very beloved,” he added. “People love our former first lady, I can tell you that, but I said, ‘You have to stick with your heart.’ I’ve said that to everybody, ‘You have to go with your heart.’”
Earlier this week, in a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would veto an abortion ban if one came across his desk as president. The former president’s views on the issue have consistently evolved.
In May 2023, Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, writing in a social media post, “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone.”
And when he was president, Trump called on the Senate to pass a 20-week limit on abortions that had already passed the House.
Earlier this year, the former president flirted with a 15-week federal abortion limit. “The number of weeks now — people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that, and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable. But people are really — even hard-liners are agreeing — seems to be 15 weeks, seems to be a number that people are agreeing at,” he said in a WABC radio interview.
And in August, Trump told NBC News that Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which was signed into law by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, is “too short.” Trump added, “It has to be more time.”
Days later, he clarified that he would vote against a Florida ballot initiative this year that would guarantee a right to abortion until fetal viability.