Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has described her life in the media eye as “like walking a tightrope of dental floss in high heels.”
In an interview with Los Angeles Magazine, Linton, 38, rejected the notion that she was shallow and out of touch. She said: “Either I can express my beliefs and be at odds with my husband and his boss and get in trouble that way, or I can decline to comment and be in hot water with everyone else. Sucks either way.”
Linton, a Scottish-born actress raised partly in a castle outside Edinburgh, married Mnuchin, a former investment banker, in a 2017 civil ceremony at which Vice President Mike Pence officiated. It was her second marriage and his third. He has three children with his second wife, Heather deForest Crosby.
Before marrying Mnuchin, Linton was primarily known for guest roles on television and a self-published memoir about her 1999 gap year in what she described as “war-torn Zambia.” She drew intense criticism for inaccuracies and the portrayal of herself as a “white savior.” The book was withdrawn from sale and she apologized.
Once she arrived in Washington, she became highly visible as a character on social media. In 2017 she shared an Instagram photo of herself and Mnuchin disembarking from a private government jet, captioning the snap with a list of the designer apparel she wore for the trip.
When an Oregon woman criticized her, she hit back: “Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? … I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day ‘trip’ than you did.”
She drew further ire when a photo was taken of her at Fort Knox holding an uncut sheet of currency while wearing black leather gloves. Many online began to call her Cruella de Vil, after the famous cartoon villain.
In the interview, which features a 22,700-square-feet home in the opulent Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air that she calls “Weezy’s Castle,” Linton said she felt prepared for her new life “in one of the most polarizing administrations ever” amid President Trump’s orbit. “As far as I know, there really isn’t a PR firm for people who suddenly become Cabinet spouses, ya know? The partners of ambassadors and congressional spouses get to go to a training camp!
“Cabinet spouses get nothing. Being married to someone so high up in government, it surprised me that there was no one there to step in, as I’m sure they do, for the first lady or for Meghan Markle or Kate Middleton!”
She was anxious to dispel some myths about her behavior. “Someone claimed that I walk into the Treasury and yell, ‘Where is my hubby? Oh, he’s on an important phone call? Get him off!’ Bulls–t! I would never do that. You can’t just boopity-boop saunter into the Treasury. You need an appointment,” she said.
As a Cabinet wife “you get some wonderful privileges” such as “flying on an Osprey helicopter,” she said. She added that she was close friends with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and his wife Susan, who often pop over to the Mnuchins’ for dinner parties.
“I tell him, ‘Mike, if you come over wearing a tie, I’m going to send you home. We’re doing bad jeans and bad sweater night, OK, and we’re cooking together, and we’re hanging out casual style’. He’s such great fun.”
She was candid about the bad press she had received, saying: “I was deeply depressed for a while. But it sucks being perceived as a person that you’re not; it sucks being hated. Most people know me for the gloves or the plane or that awful Instagram post. … Look, I made some rookie mistakes.”
Her husband, however, had been supportive: “It made him sad to see to see how much shit I absorbed.”
When asked how she squared her support for gay rights with her husband’s role in the Trump administration, she said: “Look, all of my besties are gay. I did the Pride Run last year and again this year. Stormchasers was a sponsor! So … I’m caught between a rock and a hard place with these questions.
“Either I can express my beliefs and be at odds with my husband and his boss and get in trouble that way, or I can decline to comment and be in hot water with everyone else. Sucks either way. I very much respect my husband and the president of the United States, but I am an individual with my own beliefs and views.
“You should measure me by my actions, the friends I keep and the charities I support, not by the politics of my husband. It’s like walking a tightrope of dental floss in high heels and trying not to fall left or right. I’m just trying to walk the line in a way that isn’t going to piss anybody off.”
She described Ivanka Trump as “like a movie star… so unbelievably charismatic, beautiful, intelligent, and strong.”
Her views as an animal rights activist, she said, made things difficult with the Trumps. Asked if she felt uncomfortable going to dinner with the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., there was a long pause before she answered: “Yes, I feel uncomfortable. … Look, I do what I can.”
