Donald Trump Reveals Impact of Guilty Verdict on Melania

Donald Trump has discussed the effect his guilty verdict has had on his wife, Melania, telling Phil McGraw it's not "an easy thing for her."

The former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee sat down with the talk show host on Thursday and discussed the outcome of his criminal trial in New York. On May 30, a jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Daniels said she and the Republican had a sexual encounter in 2006. The former president denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has vowed to appeal the verdict, calling the ruling a "disgrace."

On June 6, Donald Trump's campaign posted a snippet of the business mogul's interview with McGraw on Truth Social—the social network the former president founded after being barred from X, formerly Twitter, in January 2021.

McGraw asked how the former first lady was "holding up through all this."

"I think good," the Republican said. "But I don't think it's an easy thing for her, and I think if it wasn't good, she wouldn't want to tell me about it, to be honest."

He continued: "She sees that I'm fighting like hell. I'm trying to become president and make America great again. That's what we're going to do—we're going to make America great again."

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Donald Trump and Melania Trump for comment via email.

In March, the Republican won enough delegate votes in the presidential primaries to secure his party's nomination. In the interview with McGraw, who previously hosted the talk show Dr. Phil, the former president accused his political rivals of putting "tremendous obstacles" in his way.

"It's an election we have to win," the former president said. "We're not going to have a country left if we don't win this election."

On Thursday, Melania Trump was spotted leaving Trump Tower in New York for the first time since her husband's guilty verdict was announced.

The former model was seen leaving the building with the couple's 18-year-old son, Barron Trump. The New York Post reported that the pair had several luggage bags in tow and drove off in a bulletproof Secret Service SUV. They are believed to be staying at the family's residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.

In an interview with Fox & Friends on June 2, Donald Trump said the hush-money trial had been "very hard" on the former first lady.

"It's tougher. I think it's probably in many ways—it's tougher on my family than it is on me," he told the hosts.

He added: "She's fine, but I think it's very hard for her. I mean, she's fine. But it's, you know, she has to read all this c***."