The Florida congresswoman responds to allegations that she was once offered Donald Trump’s bed onboard his private aircraft

Anna Paulina Luna: “In the home studio”

Another day, another detail about another MAGA miss linked to Donald Trump. This time, it involves Anna Paulina Luna, Florida congresswoman and notably the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress from that state. In a soon-to-be-released book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, author Alex Isenstadt (a White House reporter for the news outlet Axios), claimed that when Ms Luna was pregnant and once onboard Mr Trump’s own jet in 2023, she was offered his bed. No context to the on-board generosity was provided. She was apparently told not to tell the first lady. The passage of the book quoted by the media read: “If you need a bed to lay down in, there’s one here on the plane. If you feel sick and you need to lay there, you can lay on it.” Mr Trump apparently followed with a joke: “Just don’t tell Melania. She doesn’t like other women on my bed.”

Ms Luna quickly hit back via X. “I seldom respond to nasty headlines,” she wrote, “because I don’t like giving trash credibility.” The former airfield management specialist with the U.S. airforce explained that at the time, she was “very pregnant” and that the then ex-president’s gallant suggestion was made in the presence of her husband. She also described Mr Trump as a “gentleman and the good person that he is.” Ms Luna also revealed that she would later be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a condition during pregnancy that usually sees the increase in blood pressure. She did not say if her doctors advised her against flying, or how unwell she felt on that flight that prompted the owner of the aircraft to offer her a little lie-down on his bed. It is also not known if any of the seats on the conceitedly named Trump Forced One could recline.

Donald Trump with Anna Luna onboard the Trump Force One in 2023. It is unclear if this was when the offer of the president’s bed for Ms Luna’s use was made

Anna Luna was once described as the MAGA movement’s “rising star”. Like the numerous conservative female firebrands whom the president surrounds himself with, the 36-year-old is considered “attractive”. Her political career began somewhat noticeably in the influencer space, with some modelling thrown in later as she paved her way into the main political arena. In a post that she ‘pinned’ so that it’d appear at the very top on Instagram, she shared that she was on the cover of the November/December 2024 issue of Maxim (ten years ago, she participated in the Maxim model competition, but is not certain if she was placed. The magazine is known to have a thing for women in uniform). On it, she wore a white Victoria’s Secret singlet under what appeared to be half undone military overalls, possibly to represent her career in the U.S. Air Force, or the sexy tough chick in the style of Lara Croft for the magazine’s largely male readers of age 18 to 35 to enjoy. Accompanying the IG post, she wrote, “I am honored to share my story and talk politics with so many young people across the nation.”

Politics was not much discussed, but she did say to the magazine: “I didn’t come from a political pedigree, money or attend an Ivy League college. My father struggled with substance abuse. He was in and out of jail until later in my teens and, at one point, became homeless.” In fact, the media has shared much of her complicated backstory, and there have been controversies surrounding her past, including her claim that she was raised as a Messianic Jew by her father and that she is “a small fraction Ashkenazi” . Members of her extended family have, however, stated to The Washington Post that her father was Catholic and they were unaware of him practicing Judaism. Ms Luna told Maxim that if she could travel anywhere in the world, it would be to “the historical archives at the Vatican”, not, surprisingly, the Holy of Holies. Although the child of immigrant parents, Ms Luna adopted a tough stance against those crossing the southern border to enter the United States. And despite her less-than-magnificent young life, she said to the magazine of her political ascension: “The American dream is alive and well, and I’m living proof”

In Washington D.C., December 2024

In many of her appearances in Capitol Hill, the 36-year-old mostly wears a suit, with a keenness for ties, especially a red one, as if to portray herself as the female mini-me of Donald Trump. Her style is generally MAGA-friendly, as might be expected. But one outfit drew the most attention to her. Not long after she began serving in the House of Representatives in 2023, an old video—believed to be filmed in 2016—to show her support for Mr Trump “resurfaced”. In it, she was seen dancing and twirling in a blue one-piece swimsuit with Make America Great Again running vertically across her torso. The Democrats had a go at her. But she snapped back, saying: “I’m confirming that I have indeed worn swimsuits, and you can tell I am biologically a woman. #MAGA.” An innocuous, not-especially-sexy (although high-cut) maillot quickly became a flashpoint in America’s increasingly fierce political and cultural debates. Ms Luna was able to use clothing to uphold her conservative stance and criticize her political opponents, with full support from the fervid right.

The Trump Force One spill added to the ongoing discussion about Ms Luna’s public persona. Not only were her clothing choices used to make her political point, her words and her actions, especially on social media did too. She enjoys pushing whatever buttons there are for her fingers to do the necessary workout. In a 2018 Fox News interview, the anchor had to cut her off mid-way after she likened Hillary Clinton to herpes, saying, “she won’t go away.” A year later, when she spotted Kamala Harris—then a U.S. senator—in an airport by chance, she harassed Ms Harris over the latter’s opposing Mr Trump’s family separations policy when deporting illegal immigrants. And she had a stranger filmed it, with the mission to post it online, which she did. When Anna Paulina Luna, responding to the revelation in the new book, said that she was not going to give trash credibility: Some of her critics wondered if she was talking about herself.

Photos: realannapaulina/Instagram