Melania Trump Blames 'Heartbreaking' Baby Formula Shortages on White House Lack of Leadership

The former first lady has mostly kept a low profile after her husband was ousted from the Oval Office in 2021. Her comments on the baby formula shortage came during her first interview since.

Former First Lady Melania Trump has alleged a lack of "leadership" in the White House during an interview with Fox News. Her comments came in the context of country-wide baby formula shortage, which she described as “heartbreaking.”

"It's heartbreaking to see that they [US people] are struggling and the food is not available for children in the 21st century in the United States of America", she said in her first interview since leaving the White House in January 2021.

Apart from Trump’s targeting, President Joe Biden’s handling of the shortage has come under fire from a range of sectors.

Biden, for his part, has refused to take the blame for the unravelling crisis, claiming that he has plans to tackle the situation without offering details. He also went on record as saying that "only a mind reader" could have anticipated the crisis, despite first warnings of the imminent baby formula shortage emerging as early as summer 2021, with The Wall Street Journal releasing an article dedicated to the impending crisis in January 2022.

The crisis, originally triggered by the consequences of the pandemic, was exacerbated by the closure of the Abbott Laboratories production plant in Michigan in February. The plant, which manufactured Similac and other baby formulas, was shut after numerous Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections revealed violations of the sanitary code.

At the time, it was also alleged that the plant's products became a source of fatal bacterial infections, but Abbott claimed that "thorough investigation" by the FDA determined that the facility was not the source of the infections on 10 May.

Commenting on the baby formula shortages, Perrigo CEO Murray Kessler said that his company, which is one of the US’ four largest baby formula producers, is working to increase capacity in an attempt to cover for the closed plant. He warned, however, that formula supply disruptions will likely continue until the end of the year, despite Biden claiming it could be dealt with within weeks.

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