REVEALED: The terrifying moment Melania panicked when she saw Donald shot on live TV... and what a traumatized Barron demanded to know after he burst into her room

When Donald Trump first considered running for President in 2016, he went to his wife Melania for counsel. 

They considered the personal risks — not just to him and her, but to their nine-year-old son, Barron.

In fact Melania is said to have been so concerned that when Trump surged to an unexpected victory on election night she wept openly, distraught that she wouldn't be able to return to her normal life.

A spokesperson for the former First Lady has denied that account. But over the years, the former Slovenian model and self-described introvert has been forced to reckon with these fears.

As a rule, she reminds her husband before every public appearance: 'Good luck and be safe. I'll be watching.'

And on July 13, she was indeed 'watching' when her worst nightmare came true: Her husband was shot while on stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

In that moment, Melania's carefully constructed world came crumbling down.

The deeply intimate details of her reaction to the attempt on Trump's life and the lasting scar it left on her and her son are now revealed in Melania's new memoir, Melania, published today.

It offers a glimpse into the mind of an incredibly private woman, who has done her utmost to stay out of the political limelight – almost to the point of becoming an enigma.

Melania, 54, and Trump, 78, have been married for almost 20 years and she has supported him through much of his life – but a run for president was different.

'We recognized the inherent risks associated with such a high profile position,' Melania, 54, writes. 'As a wife and mother, the safety of my family is a constant concern.'

Nothing could have prepared her and Barron to watch their beloved husband and father shot.

July 13 started off like any other quiet Saturday, Melania writes.

She was in her study at their family home in Bedminster, New Jersey, while Barron played sports outside.

Melania had waved Trump off that morning with her customary 'good luck'. Then just before 6:00 pm she switched on the TV to watch his speech in Butler, before briefly pausing it a few minutes in, so she could focus on her work.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

It was her chief of staff.

'Are you watching the rally?' came the shaking voice down the line. 'I just want to let you know he's okay. He… is… okay. But there was a shooting.'

Melania rushed to turn the TV back on, her heart in her mouth, and watched as Donald grasped at the side of his head and dropped, swarmed by Secret Service agents.

'He's on the ground, are you sure he's okay?' she shouted to her chief of staff.

No matter how many times Melania heard he was fine, and even as she watched him being rushed into his SUV, she couldn't be sure.

'My mind racing,' she writes, 'I hung up and immediately dialed Donald. When he didn't answer, I contacted his Secret Service detail.'

'They told me they were already at the hospital and, after what felt like an eternity, put Donald on the line,' Melania recalls.

When Trump took the phone, his first words to his wife were simply: 'I'm okay'.

'It was only when I heard his voice that I could finally believe that he really was fine,' she writes.

At that moment, Barron rushed into the room. His Secret Service detail had told him that there had been an incident at the Butler rally.

'What happened? Is Dad okay?' he asked his mother breathlessly.

Melania assured him that his father was largely unharmed.

Standing together in shock they watched and rewatched the footage and the news coverage.

'I felt a deep sense of distress,' Melania writes, 'Can I explain how traumatic it is for a child to witness the attempted murder of his father?'

An exhausted Trump finally made it home at 2:00 am the next morning.

'Barron and I felt relieved at seeing him and hugged him,' Melania writes, concluding that his survival was 'nothing short of a miracle.'

'Without a rapid shift to his right in his movement, the shooter's aim would have led to a horrible and tragic outcome,' she noted.

In the aftermath of the Butler shooting and an alleged second attempted assassination of Trump at his West Palm Beach, Florida golf course last month, Melania is outspoken in her criticism of the Secret Service.

'There are some holes in there, some problems,' she told Fox News on Thursday, claiming her security team has asked for more support 'many times,' but have been denied.

Though, through it all, Melania has come away from her husband's brush with death calling for national unity and peace.

'Life is precious and can be lost in an instant,' Melania says, 'We have a choice: to be torn apart by violence, hatred and division, or to unite in a spirit of love, kindness and shared humanity.'

'It is critical we choose the latter before it is too late,' she writes.