Sean had to go back onstage, where he was scheduled to talk to the crowd before he conducted a question-and-answer session. Mr. Trump was going to join him in just a few minutes, but he said he was happy to do a quick interview with me before. His staffers told us how much time we had to talk to Mr. Trump. If memory serves, I think I had about seven minutes. I knew I needed to ask the tough, political questions first. I asked about the riots that broke out in Milwaukee the weekend before the town hall. A police officer shot a suspect who allegedly pointed a gun in his face. During the summer of 2016 many communities across the country were rocked by events very much like this. I was a little surprised by Mr. Trump’s answer. He told me that the Secret Service recommended canceling this event, but he refused to do so. I also asked Mr. Trump about the grueling nature of the campaign, his upcoming debate with Hillary Clinton, and his first classified briefing as a candidate.
Those seven minutes flew by. A staffer held up his hand telling me time was up. I thanked Mr. Trump for the interview. As soon as we finished he walked out onstage and the rally got under way. The short interview he granted made the news the next day on Fox & Friends. It only took a few minutes and our viewers got a glimpse into his life and opinions. I went back to the green room and watched the town hall on a television monitor. This was one of many visits he made to Wisconsin during the campaign, a state the experts said he had no chance of winning. As it turned out he carried it on his way to his shocking win.
In October, about twenty days before the election, Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, invited me into her home at Trump Tower in New York to interview her. I was grateful for the opportunity and excited about sitting down with our possible, future first lady. I also wanted to see the inside of their apartment sixty-five floors up. The camera crew had been there for hours setting up and preparing. They had a few cameras (one on Melania and one on me), which allowed the viewer to see me ask the questions and her immediate responses. More than one camera is assigned for the big interviews. The apartment was huge, with incredible views of Central Park and many of the iconic buildings in midtown.
When Melania walked in I was immediately impressed. She carried herself with such grace. Many people, especially in the media, had already prejudged her. I found her to be a very intelligent woman who speaks five languages. She showed me around the apartment and talked about the decorating, the incredible views of her “backyard” (Central Park), and the American Dream. She was an immigrant, became an American citizen, and lived on prime real estate. Most of the furniture was white and gold, the powder room was a rose gold and the molding and columns were gold too. I was curious to know if that was her doing or Mr. Trump’s. She said it was her taste, too. She directed me over to a table full of framed, family photos, pointing out one from their wedding, one of Donald with Barron, one with her and her son, and then showed me her parents. I said, “That’s your mom? You look so much alike.”
“Many people say that,” she replied. Her mother’s hair was elegantly pulled back and she was beautiful.
When we sat down to start the interview, it was obvious Melania wanted to set the record straight. She told me the media reported information about her without consulting her to verify. I asked for an example and she referenced the Daily Mail newspaper and online site reporting allegations that she once worked as an escort. They retracted the claims after she sued for libel. Mrs. Trump accepted a settlement and an apology.
After setting the record straight about herself, Mrs. Trump defended her husband against the sexual harassment allegations a group of women made three weeks before the election. She said the timing of the allegations was planned and the revelations carefully orchestrated. She said it looked, to her, like the opposition had put the women up to it. Rather than make these charges when they had allegedly happened, the women waited until just before the vote, and voiced their claims as a group to make them seem stronger. Mrs. Trump continued to stand by her man, saying the allegations were not true and should be handled in a court of law.
During the run-up to the election the Washington Post released a decade-old video of a lewd conversation Trump had with television host Billy Bush. The news broke two days before the second presidential debate. In that video you can overhear Mr. Trump making comments that shocked the nation. When I heard them, my heart immediately went out to his wife. I asked Mrs. Trump about the incident and she said the comments were offensive. However, she said she had accepted her husband’s apology and they had decided to move on as a couple.
I then asked her about being on the campaign trail. Like the spouses of many political figures, finding herself in the middle of a presidential campaign was never something she thought would happen to her. I mentioned how many people wanted to see more of her. Her answer resonated with me. She told me that she had a son to raise and that he was her first priority. “My husband is running for president,” she added, “not me. My top priority is to be a mother.” As a new mom, I thought I would do the same thing.
Throughout the interview I was impressed by her strength. When one of the tabloids wrote a horrible, false story about her, she sued them. And won! Clearly this was a woman one should never underestimate.
My first interview with Ivanka Trump, which I’d tried to land for some time, occurred the day before she gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. Over the course of the campaign Ivanka emerged as one of her father’s most trusted advisers. I explored that relationship by asking her what she says to her dad when he does something she disagrees with. She told me that she is very candid in expressing her opinions with her father. However, she always does this privately. He listens to her, she told me, weighs what she says, then draws his own conclusions. We went on to talk about what it was like to grow up in the home of a billionaire. She described how her father’s example taught her the value of hard work. She said he was a great father and was there when she needed him. In middle school, she would sneak into the janitor’s closet every day and make a collect phone call to him. She said he always took her calls no matter how busy he was.
In addition to the Trump family I also landed one of the first interviews with Mike Pence after he was named Trump’s running mate. I flew to Indianapolis, where I met then-Governor Pence, his wife, Karen, and one of their three children, daughter Charlotte, at the Indiana governor’s residence. In Indiana the governor’s home is not called a mansion, as it is in many states, and this seemed like the perfect fit for the Pence family. They told me a wonderful story about the night they received the call telling them that Republican nominee Donald Trump was coming to the governor’s residence for a breakfast meeting. The Pences do not have an extensive staff. They called a local restaurant to arrange for food for the next day. Then Mr. and Mrs. Pence got their home ready. The two of them were outside in Mrs. Pence’s flower garden at 1 A.M. cutting the flowers that adorned the table when Mr. Trump arrived. That told me so much about the future vice president and his wife. They truly are a family with whom what you see is exactly what you get.
One of my favorite moments during the interview came when I asked the Pences what they did when Mr. Trump called and asked him to be his vice-president. Karen answered.
She said, “Honestly, Ainsley, we prayed for the other people who were in the running.”
I felt such humility in that response. Later Charlotte showed me a plaque she’d made for her dad that she called her “He Said to Me” plaque. It said, “Do the right thing, then go home for dinner.” She went on to say how her dad always told her words of wisdom throughout her childhood. It reminded me so much of my father and gave me a newfound respect for Governor Mike Pence.
Eric Trump, the son of President Trump, later told me a story about how Vice President Pence became his father’s running mate. Eric said he, his dad, and some of the campaign staff flew to Indianapolis for a campaign rally with Governor Pence. The Governor introduced Donald Trump, they had the rally, and then Trump was supposed to leave, but there was a
small piece of debris on the runway which punctured the wheel of the plane. That forced them to spend the night in Indianapolis. As they left the rally, they decided to get dinner back at the hotel. Donald Trump, Governor Pence, Karen Pence, and Eric Trump sat in a small back room at the hotel’s steak house and had an amazing conversation. Eric said, “It was fun to see that bond materialize. The conversation went so well, my dad had everyone else fly in the next morning to meet at the Governor’s residence for breakfast. The Governor and his wife picked the flowers from their garden, which were used as centerpieces. They called a local breakfast restaurant to deliver the food and then asked if they could start the meal in prayer.”
Eric says they sat there as two families around the table and history was made, “You could very easily argue that the small piece of metal on a runway had a large part in shaping the vice presidency of the United States and the election as a whole. All I know is we each flew about six hundred other legs during that campaign and we never encountered any other metal shards that left us stranded—only that night.”
Of all the history makers in the 2016 election that I interviewed, there was one notable omission: Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t for lack of trying on my part. I reached out to the Clinton campaign on a regular basis. Over time I got to know some of the people on her staff. A few came on Fox & Friends for interviews, but Mrs. Clinton never did. I think she accepted one interview on Fox News during the entire campaign, and that’s going all the way back to the Democratic primary season. I assumed she didn’t think she needed to speak to our audience. From the day she announced her candidacy everyone knew she was going to be the Democratic nominee. The primaries felt like little more than a formality. Even with that, she ran into some rough patches and lost some of the primaries to Bernie Sanders.
Of course, in the end Mrs. Clinton did win the nomination and everyone in the mainstream media assumed she’d easily win the presidency. I often wonder what might have happened if she had come on Fox & Friends and opened herself up to our questions. Surveys show that a large number of political independents watch Fox News. To me, Fox & Friends was the perfect show for her to visit. We had a lot of viewers who were undecided, and the 2016 election was decided by independents. I can’t help but think she missed out on a huge opportunity. If I were in her shoes and I had the opportunity to make my case I would want to make it to the widest possible audience—whether they agreed or disagreed with me. Perhaps they would see a side of me they’d never seen before and I would get more votes. It seemed like a no-brainer to me. But not to Mrs. Clinton. She never came on our show as a presidential candidate. I believe that told our audience she wasn’t interested in their votes. I will always believe that was a mistake on her part.
On election night, November 8, 2016, I stayed up late waiting to see who won just like the rest of America. I had to get up at 3 A.M. to get ready for work, but I had to know in real time. I watched Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace, and Bret Baier on Fox News as one state after another came in for Mr. Trump. When they called Pennsylvania for Trump, the election was over. Results were still coming in from the West Coast, but it didn’t matter. Pennsylvania pushed him over the top in the electoral college. Some in the mainstream media cried foul when Hillary Clinton ended up winning the popular vote, but that rings very hollow for me. Since the Constitution was ratified in 1789, the president has always been elected through the Electoral College. Donald Trump crafted his strategy around winning the key states to take the presidency. By doing so he ignored states like California, where he knew he was going to lose. Instead he spent a great deal of time in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, states the Democrats assumed they’d win, so they ignored them. In the end, those states gave us our next president.
I watched the election results, and then talked about them the next day on Fox & Friends. Those moments were surreal. I didn’t just get to cover history as a reporter—I found myself in the middle of the story as it unfolded. The year was an experience I will never forget.
The day before the inauguration I landed the last interview with President-elect Trump before he became the forty-fifth president of the United States of America. He was relaxed and rested. All of his hard work, time, and financial contributions had paid off. I asked him, “After you are inaugurated, what is the first thing you will do?”
“Go to work,” he said.
He said he had already written and practiced his inauguration address and the first line was a thank-you to the past presidents, including President Obama and First Lady Michelle. He said they were very gracious and helped him make the transition smooth. The president-elect said, “No matter how many times you step foot into the White House it is always incredible.”
Mr. Trump also said it is a tradition for the president’s entire family to sleep in the White House the night of the inauguration and they were planning on doing just that. That was the night his son Eric told the entire family he and his wife, Lara, were having a baby.
I have since been to the White House for different occasions and interviews. The first time I went to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to interview President Trump, I was escorted to the Oval Office through the White House hallways, which are adorned with oil paintings of our past presidents and first ladies. I saw Jackie Kennedy’s face and realized my feet were walking where she once walked. I was mesmerized by every detail, tried soaking it all in. I kept thinking, If these walls could talk. . . What joys, what sorrows, and what news had been shared in this home? What decisions were made here? What secrets were harbored?”
I was later invited to attend a White House Historical Society celebration of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. As part of the celebration they showed a video of her in the White House, walking down one of the halls I’d just walked down. That’s when it hit me again: I have absolutely the greatest job on earth. God has given me a front-row seat to history, and an opportunity to share my experiences with our devoted, loyal viewers at home.
I hope I never get used to this.
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Moved, Stretched, Changed
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
The wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him.
—PSALM 103:15–17
A WEEK AFTER the election and Hayden’s first birthday, she made a live, in-studio appearance on Fox & Friends along with my dad and husband. They came on the show for the launch of my first children’s book, Take Heart, My Child, which I wrote when I was pregnant. In fact, I read the proofs of the book for the very first time in our apartment while sitting in the gray rocking chair in Hayden’s nursery. At the time we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl. As I read the book out loud, thinking about the child I would soon hold in my arms, my mind went back to my dad leaving his notes next to my cereal bowl and the prayers God had answered by making me a mother. I wept. The book itself was not released for another year, which is pretty normal in the world of publishing, but I knew on that day in the nursery that I wanted my father and daughter to be a part of the event.
I received my copies a few weeks before it was available in stores. The finished product was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Artist Jaime Kim did a marvelous job with the watercolor illustrations. She wonderfully captured the essence of my favorite South Carolina beaches and the trees of my childhood, and even included butterflies on most of the pages. When I noticed the butterflies, I thought of my maternal grandfather, who helped me with my insect project in second grade and suggested I choose the monarch butterfly to research. He told me he saw them on the golf course (he was an avid, scratch golfer) and asked our family to always think of him when we saw one. In fact, we have seen them flying around at each of our weddings (four of the grandchildren are married), and even though he is gone, they remind us that he’s still with us.
I also loved the dedication p
age and the back cover. I dedicated the book to Hayden. My hope is that its words stick with her the way my father’s words have stuck with me and guided me throughout my life. I wanted the world to know the role my parents played in inspiring the book. The back cover tells the story behind the story.
I shared with my readers the memory of my mother’s hard work as a schoolteacher who had to go to work early, and how, as a result, my dad was responsible for breakfast. I wrote about the notes with poems, Scriptures, or sayings scribbled on a piece a paper that he left next to our cereal bowls. In a way, the story behind the story of Take Heart, My Child provided the inspiration for the book you are now reading. My books would not have been written without my parents.
I had high hopes for Take Heart, My Child. Every author does. The publisher was quite enthusiastic but also realistic. They know how hard it can be to publish children’s books. Still, I had a feeling that God had bigger plans for this book. I couldn’t wait for it to come out. A year later, when it finally hit the bookstores I was ecstatic.
The publishers might not have had great expectations, but the Fox & Friends audience proved them wrong. The book immediately shot to number one on the New York Times best-seller list. We sold out the first edition in a few days. I started receiving messages from viewers telling me they wanted to buy it as a Christmas present but couldn’t find it. The stores couldn’t keep it in stock. We hadn’t printed enough copies because we were not anticipating such a success. In addition, I wanted the book printed in America (even though this was more expensive, so we had to cut costs elsewhere) and the publishers said they could have produced reprints faster had we originally printed in China. Thankfully we found another printer, who helped us whip out additional high-quality books quickly. That was a miracle and only happened because the CEO of that printing company watched Fox & Friends and knew we needed additional books. What a blessing! We ended up doing multiple reprints. In fact, my first children’s book sold so well so fast that the publishers immediately asked for a second book. Through Your Eyes was released in November 2017 and also debuted at number one on the New York Times list, and stayed there for a few weeks and then hit the list again weeks later at Christmas.
The Light Within Me Page 18