Trump told Fox News on Thursday that opinions on abortion differ across the country, and he had encouraged his wife to express herself honestly.
“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’,” he told the network at a rally in Saginaw.
“There are some people that are very, very far right on the issue, meaning, without exceptions. And then there are other people that view it a little bit differently than that.”
According to The Guardian, which said it had obtained a copy of the memoir ahead of its publication next week, Melania wrote that “restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body”.
Melania Trump, who has been barely seen on the campaign trail as her husband seeks a White House comeback, also posted a slick black-and-white video on social media, though she didn’t mention abortion directly.
“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,” she said, backed by the strains of sweeping classical music.
Her statements triggered fury from anti-abortion activists.
“It’s hard to follow the logic of putting out the former First Lady’s book right before the election undercutting President Trump’s message to pro-life voters,” Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said on X.
“Abortion ends an innocent life and is the opposite of empowerment.”
Other former Republican first ladies Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush also took a pro-choice position on abortion, though after leaving the White House.
