First Lady Melania Trump Asked About Marriage with Trump, Whether She Loves Him, "Yes, We Are Fine".
BOLDUAN: Breaking her silence. First Lady Melania Trump finally addressing allegations of extramarital affairs by her husband, President Trump, insisting it has not put a strain on their marriage.</s>MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY: It's not concern and focus of mine. I'm a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.</s>INTERVIEWER: Do you love your husband?</s>MELANIA TRUMP: Yes. We are fine. Yes. It's what media speculates and it's gossip. It's not always the correct stuff.</s>BOLDUAN: CNN White House reporter Kate Bennett is OUTFRONT with me now. Kate, pieces of this interview are still trickling out. But I find it striking that she's addressing this. Why do you think she is?</s>KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It is interesting. This is a first lady who has been very, very quiet. For almost a year, she hasn't done an interview at all. And, of course, during that year we've seen all these salacious headlines come out. We've, you know, watched She canceled that trip to Davos, take a separate motorcade at the State of the Union. We've seen her sort of indicated there might be some rough patches. But she can't hide from the media forever. She's very wary of the media. I thought it was also interesting in some of these clips here, that she also explained that she wields some power and influence in the president's West Wing. Let's take a listen.</s>INTERVIEWER: He's been in office almost two years. Has he had people that you don't trust working for him?</s>MELANIA TRUMP: Yes.</s>INTERVIEWER: Did you let him know?</s>MELANIA TRUMP: I let him know.</s>INTERVIEWER: And what did he do?</s>MELANIA TRUMP: With some people, they don't work there anymore.</s>INTERVIEWER: Do you think there's people there that he can't truth trust?</s>MELANIA TRUMP: Yes.</s>INTERVIEWER: Still working now?</s>MELANIA TRUMP: Yes.</s>BENNETT: A little palace intrigue there. Certainly, she's expressing her opinions to the president.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, she does seem to always have something more to say that she doesn't whenever I've seen her speak, I feel like. You've covered her since the president took offices. Do you think this is part of a concerted effort on her part, on her team's part to somehow stake her independence more?</s>BENNETT: Yes. I mean, I think we're looking at a first lady who is more independent than we have seen modern first ladies be. She certainly does things at her own pace, at her own time. You watch that right off the bat when she didn't move into the White House first off. She took some time to roll out her initiative Be Best, and this is her very first solo trip abroad as first lady. So, certainly, I think, you know, the East Wing doesn't coordinate with the West Wing. This isn't a shared messaging sort of White House. She really does do her own thing. She tweets on her own, she makes events on her own. She travels on her own. So again, I do think that this trip, this interview, this was a chance for her to say a few things that were on her mind after really many, many months of silence and trying to sort of read the tea leaves and what's going on there in the White House and the Executive Residence and what's happening with the first lady of the United States. I think it was an important thing for her to do to finally sit down, and be asked these questions and have to answer them.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, do you think that she's -- do you think she's comfortable in the position now? Because she wasn't at first.</s>BENNETT: I do. You know, as you said, I followed her since inauguration. I think, you know, she does really come alive around children. I think she's really finding her footing at this point in the administration.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, no one can deny how beautiful and adorable those pictures were when she was with the children in Africa. I know you were on that trip. That's pretty great to see that. Thanks so much. Great to see you. And thanks so much for joining us tonight. "AC360" starts now.