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The first lady has avoided the public eye after the Stormy Daniels story broke.

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fMelania Trump entered the House chamber to a standing ovation Tuesday night ahead of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address.

The rousing applause punctuated an unexpected drama that played out on the sidelines of the president’s speech. The first lady traveled from the White House to the Capitol without her husband, a break with tradition, CNN reported. Melania instead commuted with the special guests she and the president had invited to the event, according to the first lady’s spokesperson.

The decision to ride separately probably wouldn’t have created ripples had it not been for the fact that Melania has avoided public appearances with her husband since a January 12 Wall Street Journal report. The report alleged Trump’s private attorney, Michael Cohen, had paid $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign — an effort to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter between then-businessman Trump and Daniels.

Daniels has said the affair took place less than four months after Melania gave birth to the couple’s son Barron. (She has since denied, sort of, the encounter with Donald; the White House has also denied the Journal’s story.)

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders downplayed the Trumps’ State of the Union travel arrangements, saying Melania traveled separately for “no reason other than she can greet the guests and he can go straight in.”

But Melania’s recent decision to cancel her trip to Davos, Switzerland, fed into the intrigue. What’s more, Melania, an immigrant and former model model, has always been a source of fascination — as has her marriage to the much older Trump. (His third.)

Melania isn’t the first woman in the White House to deal with questions of her husband’s infidelity while in office. For an intensely private first lady who’s been portrayed as a captive, it’s hard not to notice her quiet distance from the president of late.

#Free Melania and the fascination with the First Lady

Talk about Melania Trump, at least in liberal circles, often comes back to the same question: What does she think about all this? What does a woman with a somewhat murky immigration historythink about her husband’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies? What does Trump’s wife think about the multiple allegations that her husband sexually harassed and assaulted women, incidents that reportedly occurred during their marriage?

Melania was 28 when she met Trump, then 52 (and with a date), at a Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Club in Times Square in the fall of 1998. “I didn’t know much about Donald Trump,” Melania Trump told GQ in April 2016. “I had my life, I had my world. I didn’t follow Donald Trump and what kind of life he had.”

The couple wed in 2005 and celebrated with a Mar-a-Lago reception. They had their only son Barron, about a year later, in 2006.

During Trump’s candidacy, Melania, now 47, was an infrequent presence on the campaign trail. One of her first high-profile political appearances came at the Republican National Convention in July 2016. Her speech sparked a scandal, after people noted that portions of the speechseemed to have been cribbed directlyfrom former first lady Michelle Obama’s address during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Melania was thrust in the spotlight again toward the end of the campaign, after the infamous Access Hollywood tape leaked. Melania defended Trump’s crass language, suggesting others had goaded her husband into “boy talk.”

After Trump won, Melania decided to stay in New York rather than move immediately to the White House so that Barron could finish the school year without disruption. (They moved to Washington in June.)

And by Trump’s inauguration, jokes that Melania was a hostage rather than a willing participant in her husband’s presidency began in earnest — especially after a viral clip seemed to show Melania smiling at Trump, a smile that completely disappeared as soon as Trump’s back was turned.

That fired up the “Save Melania” and “Free Melania” memes, including one in which Melania attempts to slip an SOS message into the Tiffany box she gave to Michelle Obama before the two couples headed to the inauguration ceremony. (Obama, incidentally, will confess Thursday on Ellen that it was a picture frame.)

The #FreeMelania hashtag also popped up on signs at the Women’s March. The campaign never quite died, either, fed by little moments and gaffes, such as when Melania swiped away Trump’s hand during their foreign trip. (Which kept happening.)

The memes sparked a debate: Was Melania a figure to be pitied? Or was she complicit in her husband’s positions and policies?

“The jokes pivot on the idea that Melania Trump is miserable and cornered, and therefore pitiable,” wrote Megan Garber for The Atlantic, “in part because the alternative requires imagining a woman who is happy with her husband—that is, a woman who refuses to be as offended as they are at ‘grab them by the pussy’ and ‘such a nasty woman’ and ‘Miss Piggy.’”

“Melania Trump is hardly a stand-in for American women, she is neither a victim nor is she lacking agency,” Stassa Edwards wrote for Jezebel in January 2017. “Rather she’s an active participant working to construct Donald Trump’s narrative, readily available to put a gauzy domestic veil on his racism and misogyny.”

And until recently, there was little indication from Melania Trump’s public appearances that she’s anything but supportive of her husband.

Rumors about the Trump’s marriage have picked up steam

A few recent events have thrust the Trump’s marriage into the spotlight.Reports that Melania had not wanted her husband to win — first made by Vanity Fair in May 2017 — gained new life after Michael Wolff’s gossipy Trump White House tell-all.

His book, Fire and Fury, suggested that Melania had cried “tears — and not of joy” after the Election Night results. (Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, also denied the Wolff account, saying Melania encouraged Donald to run, and “was confident he would win and was very happy when he did.”)

Then, after the Stormy Daniels allegations broke, Melania traveled to Mar-a-Lago with the president over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, but she reportedlywasn’t seen at two dinners. Two people close to the Trumps told the New York Times that the reported “payoff blindsided the first lady, who was furious with her husband.”

Melania also tweeted on the anniversary of her first year in office, and some pointed out that of all the photos she could have chosen, her selection conspicuously did not include the president. (The Trumps’ 13-year wedding anniversary also happened to be on January 22; there was no report on whether the couple celebrated together.)

Melania also dropped her plans to accompany the president to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Instead, she made an impromptu trip to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, and then headed to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. Grisham, the first lady’s spokeswoman, said her absence was due to “scheduling and logistical issues.”

Grisham shot down any rumors of turmoil. On Twitter last week she slammed “salacious & flat-out false reporting,” adding Melania’s focus was on her family “& role as FLOTUS.”

The State of the Union marked Melania’s public debut after weeks of speculation. Though the two traveled together for Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress last year, the White House dismissed the arrangements in 2018 as a matter of convenience — and a chance for the first lady to have more time with the attendees.

The first lady’s communications director Stephanie Grisham told CNN that Melania and Karen Pence planned to host “a more intimate meet-and-greet” with those guests ahead of the State of the Union.

Melania did enter her box alone, walking in to a standing ovation. Her outfit also got some attention. She chose a Christian Dior pant suit — which some saw as white, others as cream. Female Democratic lawmakers dressed in white— which suffragettes wore as they fought for the right to vote — in protest of Trump’s first speech to Congress last year. (Also, another pretty notable female politician wore a white pant suit to Trump’s inauguration one year ago.)

The first family met up and headed back to the White House together after the State of the Union, according to her spokeswoman.

Why does this even matter?

The first lady is a private woman. Trump hasn’t exactly been a paragon of, or an advocate for, marital fidelity. (The Access Hollywood tape began with the future president describing at length his efforts to sleep with a married woman.) So, on one level, it shouldn’t matter if the state of their marital union is somewhat less than strong.

Still, the intense interest in the rumored rift between the Trumps is understandable. Melania Trump, by dint of her husband’s electoral victory, is now one of the most famous women in America. She is more popular than her husband, and her reserve and sometimes obvious dislike of the limelight has helped make her a sympathetic figure, even among Trump’s detractors.

She is elegant, sometimes aloof, and doesn’t always seem to relish her role (or at least its trappings) in office as much as previous first ladies. In general, Melania seems most at ease when interacting with others, if not away from the spotlight, at least on her own terms, as she did last night at the State of the Union and in some of her visits to local schools.

Nor is she the first first lady to serve as a blank screen onto which Americans project a narrative. During the George W. Bush administration, some liberal women desperately wanted to believethat Laura Bush shared their views. Author Curtis Sittenfeld spun her fantasy version of the first lady into a novel, American Wife, about the ambivalent wife of a swaggering Texan politician.

It turned out that Laura Bush really did support gay marriage and abortion, even if she didn’t say so when her opinion might have changed policy. And the idea that Melania Trump is a victim or innocent bystander in her husband’s presidency — #FreeMelania — has been, for many, an oddly comforting thought.

Melanie is now being cast again, this time in an old role — the woman scorned — in a stunning scandal. Her husband faces the incredible allegation that he or his associates tried to silence a porn star with hush money to cover up an affair. That revelation would likely sink any other political career. For Trump, the only thing at risk appears to be his marriage.

THE US has launched a missile in an explosive war game intended to send a message to North Korea – but an anonymous official warning the defence system it was testing failed in a major military own-goal.

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GETTY / RAYTHEON

The USA has scored a military own-goal with a disastrous war game

An official speaking on the condition of anonymity said a dummy missile had been fired near Hawaii today – but a missile defence system intended to disable the missiel in midair failed. 

They said the defence missile SM-3 Block IIA had been deployed from an Aegis Ashore site in Hawaii with the hope of hitting another missile fired from an aircraft. 

However it missed the target and the mock missile fired in the war game continued towards its target.

The Missile Defense Agency did not comment on the outcome of the test but confirmed that one had taken place.

RAYTHEON

The SM-3 Block IIA missile used in today’s botched war game

A spokesman said: “The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) conducted a live-fire missile flight test using a Standard-Missile (SM)-3 Block IIA missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, Wednesday morning.”

An intercept test for the missile last June also failed, but there was a successful test in early 2017.

Hawaiians react to false incoming missile alarm

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The last year has seen ramped-up North Korea missile launches, some of them over Japanese territory, and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

These actions have prompted a stepped-up US-led campaign to toughen UN sanctions, which Pyongyang has called an act of war.

It comes just weeks after Hawaii was thrown into chaos when a missile alert was mistakenly issued across the islands. 

Explosive images as South and North Korea test their deadly power

Tue, May 2, 2017

South Korea and US military held the integrated live fire exercise amid tensions over nuclear issues in the Korean Peninsula

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  South Korean K1A2 tanks fires live rounds [AFP/Getty Images]

Citizens were told “this is not a drill” and instructed to take immediate shelter after a state official mistakenly pushed the wrong button. 

Eventually the all-clear was given and citizens were told there was no threat.

Despite this the island remains on high alert with Kim Jong-un frequently boasting of his ability to hit Hawaii. 

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DONALD TRUMP and Vladimir Putin’s air forces had a close call Monday when a Russian SU-27 jet performed a potentially “fatal” intercept on a US spy plane amid rising fears of World War 3. Shocking footage of the maneuver, captured by the US jet, shows just how close the Russian fighter came to the place.

Hair-raising moment Russian jet intercepts US spy plane

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The footage, released by US military, shows the Russian jet flying 1.5 meters away from the US plane as tensions between President Donald Trump and Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin escalate amid World War 3 fears. 

The two planes came so close together that the US EP-3E was forced to fly through the Russian’s “jet wash”, according to US Naval Forces Europe spokeswoman, Captain Pamela Kunze.

She explained: “This interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-27 closing to within five feet and crossing directly through the EP-3’s flight path, causing the EP-3 to fly through the SU-27’s jet wash.

“Unsafe actions‎ increase the risk of miscalculation and midair collisions.

YOUTUBE – US NAVAL FORCES EUROPE

World War 3 news: A Russian plane came within feet of the US spy plane

Inexcusable, provocative and potentially fatal

John Kirby

“The US aircraft was operating in accordance with international law and did not provoke this Russian activity.”

CNN military analyst John Kirby blasted the SU-27’s actions as “inexcusable, provocative and potentially fatal”.

He went on: “While it is difficult to determine the degree to which senior levels in the chain of command are involved in the specific conduct of any particular intercept, one thing is absolutely clear: The Kremlin desires to challenge US military patrols in and above the Black Sea and elsewhere.

“It’s a policy we must presume the Russian defence establishment is acting concertedly and aggressively to pursue. Russian military leaders are known for a lot of things. Independent thinking is not one of them.”

Russian army shows off its power

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In a statement, the US State Department said: “This is but the latest example of Russian military activities disregarding international norms and agreements,” the statement said, calling on Russia “to cease these unsafe actions.”

The Russian defence ministry justified the actions of the SU-27 by claiming it flew “strictly in accordance with international rules”.

In a statement, it added: “An SU-27 fighter was sent to intercept the target and approached the aircraft at a safe distance and identified it as an ER-3E (Aries II) US reconnaissance aircraft.

“The crew of the fighter jet reported the identification of the American reconnaissance aircraft and accompanied it, preventing it from violating Russian airspace, observing all necessary security measures.

• “After the surveillance plane of the US Navy had changed its course to move away from the border, the SU-27 returned to its base,” it was quoted as saying.

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NORTH KOREA’S nuclear missiles could be able to hit the United States in a “handful of months”, CIA director Mike Pompeo has warned in an alarming interview to the BBC.

CIA director warns North Korea could hit US ‘within months’

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North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un could have his nuclear missiles ready to hit the United States in a “handful of months”, the director the CIA has warned. 

Speaking to the BBC, he said: “Today the pressure campaign continues we are hopeful but our task at the CIA is to make sure if the day comes that that does not work, we’re prepared to help the President achieve that objective.”

Asked about a timeline for a possible strike by Kim Jong-un, Pompeo said: “I’ll leave it to others to talk about the red lines that is the policy determinations. 

“With respect to our understanding of the programme, I think that we collectively, the United States and our intelligence partners around the world, have developed a pretty clear understanding of Kim Jong-un’s capability. 

BBC•AFP PHOTO•KCNA VIA KNS

North Korea news: Kim Jong-un could strike the US in a “handful” of months, Pompeo said

Kim Jong-un continues to present a risk not only to the United States but to the world

Mike Pompeo

“We talk about him having the ability to deliver a nuclear weapon to the United States in a matter of a handful of months.” 

“We are mindful that Kim Jong-un continues to present a risk not only to the United States but to the world.”

The CIA chief also said President Donald Trump’stweets helped get America’s message across. 

He said: “Kim Jong-un has never appreciated the risk that he presents to the world in the way that he does today.

Expert: US should be prepared for war with North Korea

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“So when you see the language the President chooses to use, the many audiences for it and I assure you, Kim Jong-un understands the message that America is serious about this.”

North Korea had seemingly loosened World War 3tensions by engaging in diplomatic talks with its neighbours in the South and agreeing to send athletes to the winter games across the border.

However, the goodwill built up through negotiations could be unravelling after North Korea abruptly cancelled a cultural event scheduled to be held with South Korea.

A telegram from North Korea reportedly blaming “biased” and “insulting” media coverage in South Korea.

Seoul has the decision was “regrettable” and urged the North to uphold all the agreements that had been made.

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