Melania Trump defends her husband’s racist comments during in-depth interview

DONALD Trump’s wife Melania has given a rare in-depth interview in the couple’s massive gold penthouse where she talks about keeping her life ‘as normal as possible’. Right. Sure.

DONALD Trump’s wife Melania has defended her husband’s controversial comments on Mexicans, Muslims and women, in her first in-depth interview since Mr Trump announced his bid for the presidential nomination.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski inside the couple’s $100 million New York penthouse, perched on a gold chair, Mrs Trump said she is trying to maintain a sense of normality during the campaign for the sake of her nine-year-old son.

“I like to keep life as normal as possible for my son Baron. I’m a full time mum and I love it,” she said. “I decided not to be in the campaign so much, but I support [Trump] 100 per cent.”

The 45-year-old former model, who speaks French, German and Italian, migrated to the US from Slovenia in 1996.

Melania Trump speaks at his election night party February 20, 2016 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP.

She met Trump, 69, two years later at a New York Fashion Week party and the couple were married in a lavish ceremony in 2005.

The television host Barbara Walters once said of Mrs Trump: “Maybe because she’s so pretty, we don’t expect her to be as smart as she is.”

Last June, Mr Trump made these comments about Mexicans in his presidential announcement speech: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you.

“They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

When asked about these remarks, Mrs Trump said she doesn’t believe her husband insulted Mexicans.

“He said ‘illegal’ immigrants. He didn’t talk about everybody. And after a few weeks [of] giving him a hard time and bashing him in the media, they turned around and said, ‘You know what, he’s right’. He opened conversation that nobody did.”

An immigrant herself, Mrs Trump said she went through legal processing to become a US citizen.

“I follow the law. I never thought to stay here without papers. I had a visa, I travelled every few months back to Slovenia to stamp the visa.

“I came back, I applied for the green card and I applied for the citizenship later. So I went by [the] system. I went by the law and [people] should do that.”

This was a rare in-depth interview with the woman who could become the First Lady.

The interview was conducted inside the couple’s $100 million NYC penthouse.

She also supported her husband’s call for a “total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the United States.

“What he said is it will be temporary and it’s not for all the Muslims. We need to screen them,” she said.

“He wants to protect the people of America so we ... keep the country safe. That’s very important to him.

“It’s very dangerous. We have people coming into the country ... we don’t know who they are, we don’t know what they will do.”

But she clarified that she doesn’t always side with his opinion.

“Do I agree with him all the time? No, I don’t. And I tell him that. I tell him my opinions. I tell him what I think. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he [doesn’t].”

Melania Trump says she was initially attracted to her husband because of his “amazing mind”. Picture: AP Photo/David Goldman.

The couple have been married since 2005. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP.

When asked how women who work for Trump are treated, Mrs Trump said they are seen as equals.

“He treats women the same as men. He will tell you what’s in his heart, what he thinks. He will not hold it back if you’re a woman. You’re human. Woman or man it’s no different, you’re a human,” she said.

Mrs Trump said she was initially attracted to her husband because of his “amazing mind”, describing him as “very smart, very charming” and having “a great energy”.

“We have a great relationship,” she said. “We are our own people. I am my own person and he is his own person and I think that is very important. I don’t want to change him and he doesn’t want to change me.”

Trump, whose campaign slogan is ‘Make America Great Again’, has surprised political commentators with his unexpected success among working class voters.

In the Iowa caucus he was the second most popular Republican nominee, garnering 24 per cent of the vote, behind Ted Cruz. He later won the New Hampshire primary with more than 35 per cent of votes.