Fact Check: Melania Trump Says Jill Biden Called Donald Trump “Evil”

Melania Trump’s office intervened this week after media reports that she had rejected Jill Biden’s invitation to meet at the White House.
President-elect Donald Trump, Melania Trump’s husband, met President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a “peaceful and orderly transition” of power.
Her office issued a statement saying that “several unnamed sources in the media” provided “false, misleading, and inaccurate information” about her absence after a source told the New York Post, “She ain’t going.”
In the fallout, reports circulated that Melania had misgivings about the first lady, with a French report quoting her claiming that Jill Biden had called Donald Trump “evil.”
The Claim
An article by the conservative conspiracy website Gateway Pundit, published on November 13, 2024, claimed that First Lady Jill Biden had referred to Donald Trump as “evil and a liar.”
Quoting French outlet Paris Match, the article quoted Melania questioning whether a phone call she received from Jill Biden after the assassination attempt on Trump in October was genuine.
“I do question, however, whether Jill’s concern was genuine, as a few days prior she referred to my husband as ‘evil’ and a ‘liar,'” the article quotes her as saying.
The Facts
The article’s quote appears to come from a Google translation of Melania’s comments in a written interview with Paris Match, published on October 30, 2024. The entire quote, translated through the online service, reads a little stilted.
“After receiving the horrific news of the tragedy in Pennsylvania, Jill Biden took the initiative to contact me directly,” it states.
“I do not know, however, if her concern was genuine, since, just days before, she had called my husband ‘evil’ and a ‘liar.’
“The verbal attacks by Democratic leaders and the mainstream media have become so deeply ingrained in the consciousness of our countrymen that they have succeeded in triggering an assassination attempt on my husband.
“And while I am relieved that Donald is safe, the comfort I receive from my family and friends is precious. It is clear that the forces behind this evil behavior will continue to work. In other words, and to put it simply, they want Donald gone. They will not stop.”
While it may not be a perfect translation, the comment is still accurate.
At a campaign event in Georgia in July 2024, Jill Biden referred to Trump as “evil” as she spoke about comments the president-elect is said to have made about the military in private.
“Does Donald Trump know anything about military? No, he disparages those who sacrifice for our country,” Biden said.
“His own Chief of Staff said he called POWs and those who died in war losers and suckers.
“He’s evil, he said he didn’t want to be seen with injured veterans because it didn’t look good for him.
“It’s disgraceful but it’s not surprising. Donald Trump wakes up every morning thinking about one person and one person only: himself.
“We know what Donald Trump was like as Commander-in-Chief and it could be worse this time.”
Speaking in North Carolina in June after the televised debate between Joe Biden and Trump, Jill Biden told crowds that Trump had repeatedly lied.
“What you saw last night on the debate stage was Joe Biden: a president with integrity and character, who told the truth,” reported the Independent.
“And Donald Trump, who told lie after lie after lie.”
The Ruling
True.
Jill Biden referred to Trump as “evil” at a campaign event in July 2024 and accused the then-former president in June 2024 of lying during the first 2024 televised presidential debate.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team