Politics: Crispiest Snippets From New Book That Overwhelms Melania Trump
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, former friend and advisor to Melania Trump, publishes a damning book about the American First Lady, titled "Melania and me." Here are the best excerpts.
In Melania and me, (Gallery books, September 1, 2020) Stephanie Winston Wolkoff reflects on her relationship with the current US First Lady, her former best friend, Melania Trump. A friendship between two rich women from bourgeois and white American society, who live with powerful men, at the heart of power. This autobiographical book reveals episodes that are at the same time revealing, overwhelming and crisp on the one who was "his best friend and sister". Here are some excerpts.
Melania laughs at Donald Trump's sexist comments
At a lunch together, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff asks Melania Trump: "How many times have the words 'pussy' and 'president' been in the same sentence? She refers to the recording of Donald Trump from 2005, where the current US President discusses his behavior with women with Billy Bush. We can clearly hear the real estate mogul utter the following sentence “Grab them by the pussy”.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff describes the only reaction of Donald Trump's wife: “She looked at me with her sparkling blue eyes, then she laughed, to the point of having to wipe the tears from her eyes with her towel. "
Melania insisted on being called the "First Lady Elect"
Before a show where Melania Trump was invited, her former collaborator recounts a discussion she had with her.
“As for how her name would appear on a show, Melania said, 'I want to be introduced as First Lady Melania Trump.'
“It's your official title, but not before the investiture ceremony,” I said.
"So call me First Lady Elect."
"We can't do this because you weren't elected."
"That's what I want."
"Karen Pence calls herself Mrs. Karen Pence."
She didn't care. "First lady elected!" became his mantra whenever there were programs and invitations. "
Tensions with Ivanka Trump
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff looks back in her book on Operation Block Ivanka, which consisted of hiding the face of Trump's daughter during an official photo shoot. She tells how she planned everything.
“To plan this operation I needed to know exactly where the family would be seated and the angles of view ... Using Brandon's sketch, we were able to determine which face would be visible when Donald and Melania were seated at their place, and then when the family had risen with Chief Justice John Roberts, for Donald to take the oath of office. If Ivanka wasn't in the aisle, her face would be hidden when she sat. For the standing part, we put Barron between Donald and Melania and made sure Don Jr. was standing next to Melania, not Ivanka. We were all exhausted and stressed. Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was petty. Melania was part of this mission. But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn't have been the center of attention during her father's inauguration. "
Another event showing the tensions with Ivanka Trump is recounted: the seating battle.
“After lunching with Ivanka, I headed to the high-security crisis room to attend a meeting on the President's first speech to the joint session of Congress, which staff called the State of the Union (although technically it was not). [...] During the meeting, I finally understood that we didn't know anything. The West Wing press officers responsible for organizing the event informed me that there were no more places available in the First Lady's box.
I said, "How is that possible? We haven't invited anyone yet."
"They're already taken," one of the bureaucrats told me.
"By who ?"
"Cabinet members and other guests of Ivanka Trump."
And There you go. Ivanka had set up her seats in the Melania section. I thought about it: Did she plan our lunch on the same day as this meeting because she hoped that I would miss her and that I wouldn't be wiser if she took over Melania's seats? "
The regrets of a non-friendship
In the end, concludes Stephanie Winston Wolkoff: “It was the worst mistake of my life to engage with Melania and the Trumps: emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, socially, professionally. I thought I had an amazing friend. But when it really mattered, Melania wasn't there for me. It suddenly became painfully obvious to me that she was not really my friend, in the truest sense of the word ”.
