Old friends are bewildered by the turn taken by the second lady, a onetime Democrat and former litigator for a San Francisco firm. Others say she’s happy in the role.

Donald Trump’s frenzied second term enters a crucial stretch in the coming weeks as the president juggles a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran, a discordant party that he needs to pass his top legislative priority and a global economy on tenterhooks awaiting his next move on tariffs.