EXCLUSIVE: All business in the Big Apple! Melania masks up for rare outing to Trump Tower in New York wearing a chic black suit and toting a $7,000 Chanel handbag – after Donald revealed the FBI rummaged through her closets during Mar-a-Lago raid
- Melania, 52, donned dark trousers, a white top, and a matching, unbuttoned jacket as she made her way into her and Donald’s Manhattan apartment building
- She paired the look with black pumps and a turn-lock, diamond-quilted Chanel briefcase; unfortunately, it is no longer available from the brand, but is currently being resold online for $6,800
- She also wore a black face mask, which is unusual for the businesswoman, as she and her husband, 76, have rarely put them on since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020
- In fact, Donald refused to wear one for the first few months of the pandemic, played down their effectiveness, and even mocked current President Joe Biden for using them during one of their debates in October 2020
- The spotting comes one week after the Trumps’ home in Florida was raided by FBI – which is believed to have been carried out to retrieve documents that the former president took from the White House when he left
- Investigators even searched through Melania’s wardrobe. Donald wrote on social media that they ‘went through the First Lady’s closets and rummaged through her clothing and personal items,’ leaving it in a ‘mess’
Melania was all business as she arrived at Trump Tower in New York City in a black power suit while toting a $7,000 Chanel handbag – days after Donald revealed the FBI rummaged through her closet during the recent raid on their Mar-a-Lago home.
Melania, 52, donned dark trousers, a white top, and a matching, unbuttoned jacket as she made her way into her and Donald’s Manhattan apartment building.
She paired the look with black pumps and a turn-lock, diamond-quilted Chanel briefcase; unfortunately, it is no longer available from the brand so its original price is unknown, but is currently being resold online for $6,800.
She kept her highlighted blonde locks in loose, beach-like waves around her face, and shielded her eyes with dark sunglasses.
She also wore a black face mask, which is unusual for the businesswoman, as she and her husband have rarely put them on since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.
In fact, Donald, 76, refused to wear one for the first few months of the pandemic, played down their effectiveness, and even mocked current President Joe Biden for using them during one of their debates in October 2020.
Melania was all business as she arrived at Trump Tower in New York City in a black power suit while toting a $7,000 Chanel handbag – days after Donald revealed the FBI rummaged through her closet during the recent raid on their Mar-a-Lago home
Melania, 52, donned dark trousers, a white top, and a matching, unbuttoned jacket as she made her way into her and Donald’s Manhattan apartment building
She paired the look with black pumps and a turn-lock, diamond-quilted Chanel briefcase
‘I don’t wear masks like [Biden]. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask,’ he said during the debate. ‘He could be speaking 200 feet away from it, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve seen.’
He also stated after it was first suggested that people start wearing face masks to stop the spread of the virus: ‘It’s voluntary. You don’t have to do it. [The CDC] suggested it for a period of time, but this is voluntary.
‘I don’t think I’m going to be doing it. I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens – I don’t know, somehow I don’t see it for myself. I just, I just don’t.’
The former first lady was surrounded by secret service as she exited her black SUV and entered the building.
Unfortunately, it is no longer available from the brand so its original price is unknown, but is currently being resold online for $6,800
The spotting comes exactly one week after the Trumps’ home in Florida was raided by FBI – which is believed to have been carried out to retrieve documents that the former president took from the White House when he left in January 2021.
By law, all presidential correspondence and documentation must be handed over to the National Archives, but it has been reported that Donald did not comply.
FBI agents were reportedly inside the 128-room Florida estate for nine hours last Monday, with 30 agents roaming through the 3,000-square-foot private quarters.
It’s been said that investigators ransacked his office for several hours – even going so far as to search through Melania’s wardrobe, Donald revealed in a social media post days after.
He wrote that they ‘went through the First Lady’s closets and rummaged through her clothing and personal items,’ adding, ‘Surprisingly, they left the area in a relative mess.’
The agents also searched a locked basement storage room in which 15 cardboard boxes of material from the White House were stored, the New York Post reported.
Sources told the outlet that Trump’s attorneys, led by Evan Corcoran, were ‘cooperating fully’ with federal authorities to arrange the return of the documents, with the process beginning in May 2021, when it was noticed that some records were missing.
In January 2022, some of the documents were returned, but apparently, not all were. Then, in early June, four top DOJ officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago to speak with the former president’s attorneys about the documents.
The DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section chief, Jay Bratt, was reportedly among the group who sat down with Donald’s lawyers.
At one point, the former president himself reportedly stopped in to say hello and ‘make small talk’ before leaving again, CNN reported.
During the visit, Donald’s team showed the government officials where he was storing documents – in a basement. Days later, the FBI reportedly sent a letter to his staff asking them to secure the room where they observed the documents being stored. Aides then padlocked the area, according to CNN.
It is unclear what transpired between June and this week to make the federal investigators decide to forcibly claim the documents, but a former FBI agent told DailyMail.com that last Monday’s raid was likely sparked by new information from an ‘informant’ and a breakdown in cooperation between the agency and former president.
Retired FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Tabman, who served the agency for 24 years, said a raid of this level of sensitivity would need to be approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
‘I think there was inside information – call it an informant if you want,’ he said. ‘I believe either someone told them something or some other information was stumbled upon, which was kind of conclusive in their minds that they had to go now to get that or they’re not getting it.’
Tabman claimed while there was cooperation between Trump and the FBI at one point, the agency may have gotten a sense that the former president and his team were ‘telling them what they want to tell them, with limited information.’
FBI protocol, according to Tabman, is to move forward with seizing information once they feel that ‘voluntarily’ obtaining it is no longer viable.
The spotting comes exactly one week after the Trumps’ home in Florida was raided by FBI – which is believed to have been carried out to retrieve documents that the former president took from the White House when he left in January 2021
Donald revealed in a social media post that the FBI even searched through Melania’s wardrobe. He wrote that they ‘went through the First Lady’s closets and rummaged through her clothing and personal items,’ adding that they left it in a mess’
FBI agents were reportedly inside the 128-room Florida estate (pictured) for nine hours last Monday, with 30 agents roaming through the 3,000-square-foot private quarters
The above timeline highlights just some of former president Donald’s battles with the National Archives since leaving office, including an unrelated court fight with the January 6 committee
‘You know, everything could disappear,’ Tabman said. ‘You got evidence that you need to get before it disappears or it moves and you can’t see it anymore.’
Retired FBI Special Agent Michael Tabman told DailyMail.com it’s likely an ‘informant’ revealed information to the FBI that led to the raid of Donald’s home on Monday
In order to obtain the warrant for a raid, the FBI would need to prove probable cause and conduct the search in a timely manner. Agents can’t just ‘poke around’ someone’s home in a case like this, Tabman added.
He also claimed the FBI could have gotten the sense that Trump was just no longer being ‘fully cooperative’ with the investigation – leading them to see the raid approval.
The ex-president was at Trump Tower in New York City when the FBI raided his Florida estate. His son Eric Trump told Fox News that he was the one to inform his father of the raid.
Donald and his allies quickly sought to cast the search as a weaponization of the criminal justice system and a Democratic-driven effort to keep him from winning another term in 2024 – though the Biden White House said it had no prior knowledge and current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, was appointed by Donald five years ago.
Donald spoke out about the search in a lengthy statement late Monday, describing it as an ‘unannounced raid’ that he likened to ‘prosecutorial misconduct.’
‘These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,’ he said.
‘I stood up to America’s bureaucratic corruption, I restored power to the people, and truly delivered for our Country, like we have never seen before.
‘The establishment hated it. Now, as they watch my endorsed candidates win big victories, and see my dominance in all polls, they are trying to stop me, and the Republican Party, once more. The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped.’
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