Donald Trump Says Melania Is 'Hurt' Over Indictment

Former President Donald Trump revealed that his wife and former first lady Melania Trump was "hurt" after finding out that the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted him.

"How does she take it? She's hurt when the family's hurt," Trump said Sunday on his friend and ally Roger Stone's radio show on WABC.

Trump became the first former president in United States history to face federal criminal charges on Thursday after he was indicted by a federal grand jury over the mishandling of confidential records that were found in Trump's possession at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida more than a year after he left the Oval Office. The indictment, which was unsealed on Friday, revealed that the former president is facing 37 charges, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information. Trump, however, has maintained his innocence in the case.

Melania has not yet spoken publicly about the federal charges, but her husband said she remains by his side despite his continuing legal troubles.

During his interview with Stone, Trump called his wife "terrific" and said she has "an attitude that is amazing."

Newsweek reached out to Melania Trump via email for comment.

Melania, who was often seen by her husband's side throughout his 2016 presidential campaign and during his time in office, has made fewer public appearances since Trump left the White House in January 2021.

Her early silence over Trump's 2024 announcement this past November drew speculations over whether or not she supported her husband's political ambitions, but nearly six months after he announced his third presidential bid, she came out in support of his campaign.

"My husband achieved tremendous success in his first administration, and he can lead us toward greatness and prosperity once again," Melania told Fox News Digital last month, adding that she was ready to help him in "leading America with love and strength" during a second term.

On Sunday, Trump said the only reason the DOJ brought federal charges against him was because he was doing well in the polls, both against President Joe Biden and other top Republican presidential contenders, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

"If I weren't leading [in the 2024 polls], this would never happen. Or if I wasn't running, even more so, this would never happen—these fake charges," the former president said.

A CBS News poll conducted after Trump's indictment and published on Sunday shows that the criminal charges actually gave him a boost among Republican primary voters. The survey showed Trump dominating in the GOP field, with 61 percent support, while DeSantis, his closest competitor, has 23 percent.

On Sunday, the former president criticized the charges, saying that similar efforts were not being pursued against Biden for the classified Obama-era documents found at Biden's private residence in Delaware and former office in Washington D.C. The Biden documents are being investigated by special counsel Robert Hur, but little is currently known about the probe.

Trump added that sensitive records would be safer at Mar-a-Lago than Biden's house because the property is "like a fortress" with high security. Trump will be arraigned in a Miami courthouse on Tuesday in relation to the charges.

Meanwhile, Manhattan prosecutors filed more than 30 felony charges against Trump earlier this year in relation to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels alleged that she had an affair with the former president a decade earlier, an allegation that Trump denies.