This is an opinion column.

Melania Trump was born in communist Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) and moved to America in 1996 at age 26 to pursue a modeling career.

In 1998, at age 28, Melania began her relationship with then 52-year-old, still-married-to-Marla Maples, Donald Trump. The rest is history.

Melania Trump’s Slovenia is not far from Ukraine. It’s less than 400 miles; about like driving from Birmingham to Baton Rouge for an LSU-Bama football game. That close proximity compels Slovenians to have a keen awareness of Vladimir Putin and Russia’s threat to Ukraine and the rest of southeastern Europe.

I’ve always found Melania Trump to be gracious, attentive but quiet, almost shy. Apparently, she is also very persuasive with President Trump, who stated:

“I go home. I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit.’”

“There’s times I’d get home. I’d say, ‘First lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished.’ And then I’ll turn on the television, or she’ll say to me one time, ‘Wow, that’s strange because they just bombed a nursing home,'” Trump recalled in another conversation. “I’d say, ‘What?’”

Shortly thereafter, BOOM!

Thanks to Melania Trump, President Trump discovers how dishonest and evil Vladimir Putin is and adopts a 180-degree reversal on Russia’s Ukraine invasion.

Instead of giving public moral support to Russia’s Ukraine invasion, publicly humiliating Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, cutting off or suspending military aid to Ukraine, and calling for Ukraine’s partial or complete surrender (all in the name of “peace”), Trump “apparently” resumes America’s shipment of critically needed military aid to Ukraine.

I emphasize the word “apparently” because Donald Trump has a penchant for vacillation. You never really know where Trump is on any public policy issue until he does whatever he is going to do. Even then, Trump is renowned for reversing today’s position tomorrow. (See my Op Ed on Wall Street’s “Commander TACO” stock trading strategy as an example.)

Notwithstanding, Trump’s new-found support for Ukraine is all Melania Trump. Who knew? Melania deserves a medal!

Russia Invades Ukraine

Why are Melania Trump’s actions so important?

Russia conquered Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. In response, America and Western Europe shrugged their collective shoulders and did little, thereby encouraging Russia to orchestrate a “civil war” in the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

America and Western Europe again shrugged their collective shoulders and did little about Russia’s surrogate invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk, thereby encouraging Putin and Russia to launch an all-out, brutal, multi-front Ukraine invasion in 2022.

How brutal?

Ukraine civilian casualties are at least 12,000 dead and 29,000 injured while military dead are at least 45,000 with another 390,000+ wounded. I say “at least” because warring countries often minimize disclosed casualties for morale and propaganda purposes.

Russian casualties are worse, estimated at roughly 250,000 Russians killed and another 700,000 wounded in Ukraine. Russia’s grisly casualties perfectly reflect Putin’s disdain for human life.

After Russia’s 2022 invasion, America and Western Europe learned from history, belatedly showed some spine, and rushed large quantities of desperately needed military weapons and supplies to embattled Ukraine.

America’s costly but necessary military and civilian aid totals roughly $70 billion.

In my judgment, America’s aid has been “necessary” because military history teaches that doing nothing in the face of aggression often costs far more in the long run. That’s one of World War II’s most important lessons.

Some Trump-Ukraine history: in 2019, President Trump sought vengeance for Ukraine’s refusal to help Trump win his 2020 presidential race by suspending $400 million in Ukraine aid for 55 days.

In 2025, a still-seething President Trump again suspended Ukraine weaponry and intelligence aid, all while Ukrainians desperately fight for their lives and country.

And then Melania Trump happened.

Trump’s unexpected reversal is huge for Europe, world peace, and keeping America out of yet another major military conflict. President Ronald Reagan and “Peace Through Strength” come to mind. And Ukraine once again has a fighting chance of defeating Russia and reacquiring conquered territory.

Troubling Questions Remain

While I applaud Melania Trump’s influence with President Trump, some very troubling questions arise that strike at the heart of President Trump’s role as Commander-in-Chief.

Why did Melania Trump have to persuade President Trump that Putin is untrustworthy, evil, and a threat to Europe and the world? More specifically:

• Where was Secretary of State Marco Rubio during all this? I know Rubio. Rubio’s smart enough to know history’s lessons. Why did Rubio not help President Trump fully understand how Russia’s Ukraine invasion threatens America and the world?
• Where was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during all this? The No. 1 job of a Secretary of Defense is to advise the President on world military issues. Why did Hegseth not help President Trump fully understand how Russia’s Ukraine invasion threatens America and the world?
• Most troubling, where was President Trump’s National Security Council during all this? The NSC’s job is to advise presidents on national security and foreign policy. The NSC’s members are supposed to be a dozen or so of America’s “best of the best” defense and foreign policy experts. How in the world did the NSC’s members, collectively and individually, so badly fail to properly advise President Trump about the ramifications and cascading effects of Russia’s Ukraine invasion?

The White House’s national security and foreign policy “experts” better get their acts together because America cannot, and should not, have to rely on Melania Trump to always ride to the rescue.

That path is fraught with peril for President Trump, America, and the world.

Mo Brooks is a retired congressman from north Alabama and a long-standing conservative voice in state and national politics. In Congress, he served on the House Armed Services Committee for 12 years and the Foreign Affairs Committee for six years. He now writes an opinion column for AL.com.