Melania Trump has broken her silence with a rare public statement on the eve of husband Donald’s debate with Democratic presidential rival Kamala Harris.

Melania, who has largely been missing from the campaign trail as Trump makes his pitch to return to the White House, chose the night before the nationally televised debate to make her statement.

It came in the form of a 37-second video released on social media on Monday (US time), in which she declared that “the 2020 election results changed our lives forever”.

“It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety and even the geopolitical landscape,” she said.

“America is more divided today than ever before. It has become increasingly apparent that there are significant challenges to free speech as demonstrated by the efforts to silence my husband.”

The video features Melania’s words and her voice over an image of the words she is reciting. But there is no image of the 54-year-old nor her husband.

It’s all part of a promotion for the former US first lady’s memoir – entitled simply Melania – which will be released on October 8. The clip follows another from last week, in which she shared black and white footage from the Trumps’ spell in the White House.

“Writing this memoir has been a deeply personal and reflective journey for me. As a private person, who has often been the subject of personal scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts,” she said in that clip.

Her rare intervention will do little to silence questions about Melania’s absence as Trump campaigns for the November 5 election. She made a brief appearance at the Republican National Convention in August – but did not speak.

She was not at her husband’s side during his weeks-long criminal trial in New York City, in which he was convicted of dozens of counts of fraud.

So far, her only other significant election contribution has been to condemn the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania in July. Melania issued a statement saying a “monster” saw the former US president as an “inhumane political machine” before opening fire.

Monday’s video came as Trump and Harris fine tune their tactics before Tuesday’s (11am Wednesday, AEST), first – and so far only – official debate on nationwide TV.

Trump has reportedly been preparing by meeting and getting coaching from allies. They include former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former Democratic representative Tulsi Gabbard.

Harris has done mock debates with Philippe Reines, who also played Trump during Hillary Clinton’s debate prep in 2016. NBC News reported that Reines had gone as far as wearing a navy blue suit and red tie in Trump’s signature style.

Quizzed by journalists as she headed to Philadelphia – where the debate will be held – Harris said only “I’m good”, and gave a thumbs up. She did not respond to a question about whether Trump should be worried.

Latest polling in the US has Harris and Trump effectively tied heading into the final weeks of the election.

Trump was up one percentage point, 48 per cent to 47 per cent, over Harris, according to a US-wide poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College on Sunday. The difference is within the survey’s three-point margin of error, meaning a win for either candidate in the November 5 election remains within reach.

When looking at all registered voters in the poll, Harris was at 46 per cent and Trump at 48 per cent – also within the margin of error.

( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Sep 07, 2024, 7:01 PM ET )

CEASE & DESIST: I, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely because I know, better than most, the rampant… pic.twitter.com/VwiK6x1QrD

— Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) September 7, 2024

Melania’s intervention also followed another social media tirade by Trump, in which he threatened to jail an array of opponents with prosecution if he wins on November 5.

“We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behaviour will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country,” Trump wrote on Saturday.

He also repeated his baseless claim that his 2020 election defeat to President Joe Biden was due to fraud, the same message he gave to supporters before the deadly storming of the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021.

In recent days, CNN reports, he has also vowed to pardon those rioters, complained that voting in Pennsylvania (a must-win state for both candidates) is fraudulent; railed against women who accused him of sexual misconduct; and spent hours on sometimes incoherent rants that raised questions about his state of mind.

-with AAP