Models make excellent ciphers. They look lovely, but it’s not their job to have anything to say. Their inner lives leave a lot to the public imagination. There has, therefore, been a certain poignance to the emergence of Melania Trump — a beautiful and now aging former model — as first lady after such outspoken and thoroughly modern professionals like Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, especially as accompaniment to the presidency of the equally outspoken and crudely misogynistic Donald Trump.

During the 2017 and 2018 Women’s Marches, this “feel” or “mood” — as the internet puts it — was expressed by cute, ironic signs and hashtags urging “#FreeMelania.” In The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan argues convincingly that the pussyhat crowd’s view of the first lady is pure projection — she’s no victim.

Jordan does some excellent reporting on Melania and the power she wields in her marriage and in the administration. As one might imagine, the Trump marriage falls short of most people’s companionate ideal: Donald and Melania spend little time together and don’t enjoy the same activities. But the president values Melania’s opinion and depends on her steady temperament. In Jordan’s best scoop, she solves the mystery of why Melania took so long to move to the White House when her husband took office. Melania had said she was focusing on Barron, her son, and didn’t want to move him during the school year. Melania is probably an excellent and attentive mother, but there was more to the story than that.