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Historic Magnolia Tree Outside White House to Be Cut Down, and Melania Trump Is Being Blamed

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First lady Melania Trump is fighting back this week against what she believes was a misleading headline and accompanying tweet by Newsweek.

According to Fox News, the magazine drew widespread criticism in response to its report on the impending removal of a historically significant magnolia tree on the grounds of the White House.

In its headline, Newsweek cited Melania Trump as the individual who ordered the tree’s removal. While that is a technically true statement, critics have since argued it leaves out important context.

Namely, experts have long warned that the tree, which is the oldest on the property, is in need of removal. It has reportedly been supported by beams and wires, though those safety measures have failed in the past and specialists note its presence at the White House poses a safety concern.

Reports indicate it was Melania Trump who gave the order to remove the tree, but a spokesperson slammed Newsweek for its take on the story.

“Newsweek’s bias and disdain for the First Lady and our administration was on full display when they actively chose to use a false headline instead of practicing responsible journalism,” said Stephanie Grisham.

Others in the administration and conservative news media claimed the headline was off base. Dan Scavino Jr., the director of social media for the White House, called the claim “100% misleading.”

In an interview with Fox News, one conservative media critic called the Newsweek piece evidence of the “usual war on Trump” he believes exists across the industry.

Dan Gainor, vice president of the Media Research Center, went on to mock the magazine’s recent sale, in which a buyer paid a nominal sum for the publication while accepting all of its debt.

“Remember, Newsweek sold several years ago for $1,” he said. “It appears the buyers were cheated.”

Several reporters at mainstream outlets, including NBC’s Tom Winter, similarly rebuked the headline. He added that the assertion was “grossly misleading” in a tweet this week.

Newsweek has since updated its initial report to include details about the tree’s condition, including the fact that “the cabling system is failing on the east trunk, as a cable has pulled through the very thin layer of wood that remains.”

For 70 years during the 20th century, the magnolia tree appeared on the back of U.S. $20 bills. Legend suggests President Andrew Jackson wanted the tree planted as a memorial to his deceased wife.

The tree is scheduled to be removed within the next few days. (For more from the author of “Historic Magnolia Tree Outside White House to Be Cut Down, and Melania Trump Is Being Blamed” please click HERE)

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Melania Trump Visits Military Families in Alaska

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Melania Trump might have been a fashion model at one time in her life, but she had no qualms ripping off a chunk of messy play dough and getting her hands dirty, just like the three preschoolers seated at the table with her Friday at a military base in Alaska . . .

It’s not the heady stuff of the official visit with her husband to Asia but hundreds packed the Arctic Oasis Community Center to get a glimpse of the first lady as she toured programs for children and youth at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. She made a refueling stop at the Anchorage base en route back to Washington, D.C., after spending the last week with President Donald Trump in South Korea and China. The president continued his official visit to Asia.

Trump didn’t make a public speech or address reporters, but did take time to shake hands and talk briefly with parents and military members who flocked to the community center. (Read more from “Melania Trump Visits Military Families in Alaska” HERE)

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Melania Responds to Alec Baldwin’s Claim She ‘Loves’ Insulting Trump Impression

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Actor Alec Baldwin said this week that first lady Melania Trump “loves” his impression of her husband, President Donald Trump, but the first lady publicly denied his claim.

Baldwin, who has portrayed Trump on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” regularly over the past year, told WNBC‘s Brian Lehrer Monday that he heard from a reliable source about a surprising fan of his.

“Here’s a scoop I have for you,” Baldwin told Lehrer.

Baldwin reportedly said a person “who is friends with someone in the White House or formerly in the White House” told him that Melania Trump “loves” his take on the president.

The caricature is an accurate reflection of what Trump is like behind closed doors, Baldwin claimed.

He said Melania Trump “told this person very high up in the White House brass there that that’s exactly what he’s like.”

Baldwin went on to claim her opinion of his impression has caused strife within the first family.

“Apparently Trump is horrified and beside himself that his wife actually thinks it’s funny,” he said.

However, in an email to Newsweek, Melania Trump’s communications director questioned the accuracy of Baldwin’s claim.

“That is not true, which is why Mr. Baldwin has no actual names to go with his bizarre assertion,” Stephanie Grisham wrote.

As for the commander in chief, it has been clear on multiple occasions that he is not impressed with his “SNL” sendup.

Late last year, shortly after Baldwin began depicting Trump on the program, the president offered his take on the parody.

During Monday’s interview, Lehrer mentioned rumors that a January broadcast in which former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is portrayed as the real president was responsible for expediting Bannon’s ouster.

Baldwin suggested the reaction could allow the late-night parodies to have a real impact within the West Wing.

“So whoever we want to get rid of, we need to elevate them above Trump,” he said. “That’s a wonderful thing.” (For more from the author of “Melania Responds to Alec Baldwin’s Claim She ‘Loves’ Insulting Trump Impression” please click HERE)

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Controversy Follows on Her Heels as Melania Takes to the Garden

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The sirens of the fashion police were blaring Friday after Melania Trump ventured forth into the White House garden.

“Melania Trump has made another public appearance in a pricey outfit,” wrote Kate Taylor on Business Insider, contrasting Melania Trump’s outfit, which included a plaid shirt that looked ordinary but had started life with a $1,380 price tag, with the gardening fashions of Michelle Obama.

“Obama used the garden as a place to showcase her down-to-earth fashion,” Taylor wrote, noting that Obama was praised for wearing J. Crew sweaters to show her common touch.

Some commenters didn’t even care about the facts as they attacked Melania Trump.

As multiple pictures showed, she wore sneakers.

Independent Journal Review decided the fuss belonged on the compost heap and looked into a true comparison of first lady outfits. He noted that Obama wore Jimmy Choo boots that retail for $1,150, while Melania Trump wore $50 Converse sneakers.

“So depending on how you look at it, Michelle Obama is the really out-of-touch first lady gardening. Her shoes were potentially $1,100 more expensive then Melania’s,” he wrote.

You can catch Obama’s pricey boots here, just after the 4:10 mark:

He then suggested that trying to diminish the first lady by attacking her clothes was a waste of time.

“Perhaps the lesson we should all learn here is that a first lady is a human being with a lot of pressure on her and we should stop trying to attack them based on their fashion choices,” he wrote, adding, “All first ladies wear expensive things, idiots.”

During her time in the garden with members of a local Boys & Girls Club to harvest a variety of vegetables, Melania Trump stressed the need for healthy eating.

“I’m a big believer in healthy eating because it reflects on your mind and your body, and I encourage you to continue to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits so you grow up healthy and take care of yourself. It’s very important,” said the former model. (For more from the author of “Controversy Follows on Her Heels as Melania Takes to the Garden” please click HERE)

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Melania Trump Halts Use of Photo as College Replies With ‘I’m Sorry’

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If there is nothing more American than a crafty advertising gimmick, then a school in Croatia might be becoming more American by the minute.

Last week, Americki Institut, an English-language school in Croatia, took out a billboard bearing the face of first lady Melania Trump with the caption, “Just imagine how far you can go with a little bit of English.”

The school did not bother with the nicety of asking the first lady.

Twitter ensured the advertisement was viewed around the world, giving the school more publicity than it might have expected.

Then Melania Trump saw it and took legal action.

The first lady decided that the school’s scheme to boost enrollment in English classes reeked more of illegality than creativity, and — as a former model who knows the value of her image — sued to have the offending advertisement removed within 24 hours.

The school got the message. The billboard in the Croatian capital of Zagreb is down.

“I’m satisfied with the fact that the school admitted that they violated the law and that they are ready to remove the billboards and ads,” said Nataša Pirc-Musar, who represents Trump as various businesses in Europe try to capitalize on her fame. “We are still analyzing possible further legal steps.”

Pirc-Musar said the school has apologized, but that the statement also needed to be published by the Croatian and Slovenian state news agencies.

“We are very sorry that the billboards were misunderstood as something intended to mock the U.S. first lady,” said Ivis Buric, a spokeswoman for the school. “It was meant to be something positive, to show her as a role model.”

Despite those words, a visitor to the school’s Facebook page might call its response more cheeky than chastened.

In place of the Melania Trump image that formerly graced its Facebook page, there is now a video of 1960s singer Brenda Lee offering the school’s response in the form of the song, “I’m Sorry.” (For more from the author of “Melania Trump Halts Use of Photo as College Replies With ‘I’m Sorry'” please click HERE)

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Woman Who Resembles Danny DeVito Is Criticizing Melania Trump’s Fashion

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Today we learned a very important lesson about looking before you speak.

A Vogue magazine editor named Lynn Yaeger has been trolling Melania Trump’s fashion choices this week after FLOTUS opted to wear heels aboard Air Force One.

Many people probably took her article seriously. Many people probably read Yaeger’s trolling pieces in Vogue and think of her as a fashion expert.

And these people would be wrong about everything except the part about Yaeger being a troll. She is in fact, a living, breathing, troll.

She breathlessly fusses over Melania’s stilettos, complaining the First Lady “is heading to visit them in footwear that is a challenge to walk in on dry land.”

(Read more from “Woman Who Resembles Danny DeVito Is Criticizing Melania Trump’s Fashion” HERE)

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In First Speech Since RNC, Melania Trump Says She Would Tackle Cyber Bullying as FLOTUS

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Melania Trump gave her first speech since the Republican National Convention Thursday afternoon, sharing her plan to minimize cyber bullying against children and teens if she becomes first lady.

The Slovenia-born wife of GOP nominee Donald Trump spoke during an appearance in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

“I will be an advocate for women and for children,” she said, adding that while her husband stays busy on the campaign trail, she is a “full-time mother” to their son, Barron.

“I have the same conversations with my son that you have with your sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, grandchildren and godchildren,” she said. “I do worry about children.”

Mrs. Trump pointed to the “bad side” of social media, adding that “children and teenagers can be fragile” and especially vulnerable to pain when made fun of online, where things have become “too mean and too rough.”

The model-turned-entrepreneur said she would also “work hard to improve everyday life for women,” referencing women in America who live in poverty or without health insurance.

Some Twitter users immediately criticized Mrs. Trump for criticizing bullying in light of her husband’s many inflammatory comments, including his attack of a Gold Star family and lewd remarks about women.

Amid the online criticism of Mrs. Trump was also praise.

Mrs. Trump said that after “hard work as a fashion model” overseas, she wanted to come to America, where “freedom and opportunity were in abundance.” She became a U.S. citizen in 2006, 10 years after moving to America.

“Love for this country is something we immediately shared when I met Donald,” she said. (For more from the author of “In First Speech Since RNC, Melania Trump Says She Would Tackle Cyber Bullying as FLOTUS” please click HERE)

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Melania Trump Files $150 Million Libel Lawsuit Over ‘Lies’ About Her Past

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Donald Trump is not the only member of his family who knows how to counterpunch.

Melania Trump, the wife of the Republican presidential candidate, on Thursday followed up on previously made threats and filed a libel lawsuit over a story claiming she had been an escort in the 1990s.

Trump is suing Mail Media, parent company of the British newspaper the Daily Mail, as well as a Maryland blogger named Webster Griffin Tarpley.

After the lawsuit was filed, the Daily Mail offered a retraction.

Trump is seeking $150 million in damages, according to a statement released by Charles Harder, her attorney. Harder was Hulk Hogan’s lawyer in the pro wrestler’s successful lawsuit against Gawker that netted Hogan $140 billion and bankrupted the gossip site.

“Defendants broadcast their lies to millions of people throughout the U.S. and the world — without any justification,” Harder said. “Their many lies include, among others, that Mrs. Trump supposedly was an ‘escort’ in the 1990s before she met her husband. Defendants’ actions are so egregious, malicious and harmful to Mrs. Trump that her damages are estimated at $150 million.”

The complaint was filed in Maryland Circuit Court. In the lawsuit, Melania Trump addresses an Aug. 19 Daily Mail article headlined “Naked photoshoots, and troubling questions about visas that won’t go away: The VERY racy past of Donald Trump’s Slovenian wife.”

The article was based upon the work of a Slovenian journalist who helped write an unauthorized biography of Melania Trump and claims by a Slovenian magazine that connected the operator of her modeling agency to an escort agency.

Trump’s lawsuit says the article was not true.

“The statements of fact in the Daily Mail Article are false. Plaintiff did legitimate and legal modeling work for legitimate business entities and did not work for any ‘gentleman’s club’ or ‘escort’ agencies. Plaintiff was not a sex worker, escort or prostitute in any way, shape or form, nor did she ever have a composite or presentation card for the sex business,” the lawsuit said.

“Plaintiff did not come to the United States until 1996. Thus, Plaintiff did not, and could not have participated in a photo shoot in the United States or met her current husband in the United States prior to that time,” the lawsuit also said.

Prior to its publication, British news organizations had been warned not to publish the allegations.

Although several news organizations have questioned Trump’s immigration status when she came to the United States, she has been clear that she never broke immigration laws.

Tarpley, who often writes about conspiracy theories, published a blog post headlined “Where Is Melania Trump.” The post included multiple allegations about her mental state and repeated the claim about her status as an escort.

Tarpley has removed the post and published a retraction.

The Daily Mail’s retraction highlighted some of the allegations made in the initial article but said the article “did not intend to state or suggest that these allegations are true, nor did it intend to state or suggest that Mrs. Trump ever worked as an ‘escort’ or in the ‘sex business.’”

The newspaper went on to defend itself.

“The point of the article was that these allegations could impact the U.S. presidential election even if they are untrue,” the retraction read.

“To the extent that anything in the Daily Mail’s article was interpreted as stating or suggesting that Mrs. Trump worked as an ‘escort’ or in the ‘sex business,’ that she had a ‘composite or presentation card for the sex business,’ or that either of the modeling agencies referenced in the article were engaged in these businesses, it is hereby retracted, and the Daily Mail newspaper regrets any such misinterpretation,” the newspaper said.

Harder told CNN that Trump would proceed with the lawsuit despite the retraction. (For more from the author of “Melania Trump Files $150 Million Libel Lawsuit Over ‘Lies’ About Her Past” please click HERE)

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Melania Trump Puts Media on Notice About False Reports

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Melania Trump is fighting back.

The wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has been a soft target for media outlets during her husband’s campaign, has started legal action against Britain’s Daily Mail and other outlets that she says published defamatory articles about her past, Politico reports.

Prior to her marriage, Melania Trump was a highly successful model. In recent weeks news media have probed her past and questioned her career before she met Trump, including when she started work in America and whether she was legally working in the country. She denied any allegations of impropriety.

Last week the Daily Mail and a few other outlets published a story suggesting that Melania Trump worked as an escort.

The GOP nominee’s wife has signified she intends to fight back against such claims in the same hard-hitting style as her husband, engaging Charles Harder as her attorney. Harder was Hulk Hogan’s lawyer in the former wrestler’s successful lawsuit against Gawker.

Harder on Monday issued a statement on behalf of Melania Trump.

“Mrs. Trump has placed several news organizations on notice of her legal claims against them, including Daily Mail among others, for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an ‘escort’ in the 1990s,” Harder said in an email.

“All such statements are 100% false, highly damaging to her reputation, and personally hurtful. She understands that news media have certain leeway in a presidential campaign, but outright lying about her in this way exceeds all bounds of appropriate news reporting and human decency,’ the statement said.

Prior to the Daily Mail article’s publication, British news organizations had been warned not to publish the allegations.

Melania Trump noted that some who published the escort story have retracted it.

The website Inquisitr, which had run the story, on Monday ran a retraction and an apology.

“A story published within the last week at the Inquisitr had attributed to unfounded rumors and innuendo regarding model Melania Trump, wife of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and her life prior to her marriage,” the retraction said.

“While Inquisitr writers did not generate said rumors, which alleged Melania Trump previously earned money as an escort, the writer in question was not diligent in fact-checking or maintaining a healthy distance between innuendo and fact,” the retraction added, offering her an apology.

Bipartisan Report also issued a retraction and apology. (For more from the author of “Melania Trump Puts Media on Notice About False Reports” please click HERE)

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George W. Bush’s Chief Speechwriter Calls Melania’s Speech A “Staff Failure”

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In the wake of the media maelstrom over Melania Trump’s lifting of several passages from a speech Michelle Obama gave in 2008, I reached out to Michael Gerson, the chief speechwriter for George W. Bush. My goal in talking to Gerson, who is now a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post, was to get a better understanding of how something like this could happen, who should be blamed and what it said about the broader Trump campaign. Our conversation, conducted via email and edited only for grammar, is below . . .

[FIX]: Who, ultimately, is to blame for plagiarism like this? The candidate? The campaign manager? The speechwriter? The spouse?

[Gerson]: This was a staff failure, indicating a weak campaign apparatus . . .

An error like the one Melania Trump committed last night tells us that the Trump campaign lacks seriousness and structure, which is also demonstrated by its divisive style, weak ground game and poor fundraising numbers. (Read more from “George W. Bush’s Chief Speechwriter Calls Melania’s Speech A “Staff Failure” HERE)

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