Donald Trump and Melania's marriage is accused of being transactional
Melania Trump's former friend said the First Lady's marriage to United States President Donald Trump was transactional. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who has been friends with Melania for 15 years, believes Trump needs Melania and vice versa.
"I believe it was a transactional marriage, Donald got an arm candy (a couple with an attractive appearance that can be showcased at a formal event)," said Winston Wolkoff in an interview with the BBC television station, as reported by the New Zealand Herald, Sunday (13/9).
Winston Wolkoff's relationship with Melania stretched out until he quit being Senior Advisor to the US First Lady in 2018. He said that in two decades Melania's life changed drastically.
"She was a young model, not very successful, she met Donald, she married, she became an American, they have a son and 10 years later she is the First Lady of the United States," said Wolkoff.
"I believe it was a magical moment, and I also believe it was a moment made for television," he said.
The statement was made not long after Wolkoff published a book entitled Melania & Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with The First Lady on September 1. It is the first book about Melania written by the person closest to him.
Melania's spokesperson strongly criticized the contents of the book, which she said were full of "lies". "Twenty years ago, he was a model who was almost never in Paris," wrote Winston Wolkoff in his book as quoted by Intelligencer magazine.
"Thirty years ago she lived in the Communist country of Slovenia, in the inauguration program, she wanted to be called the 'Chosen First Lady' even though as I recall she was not elected at that time," added Winston Wolkoff.
In the book, Winston Wolkoff also wrote other claims, such as the cold war between the First Lady and the daughter of President Ivanka Trump. Winston Wolkoff also wrote Melania using a personal email, something Trump's weapon used to criticize Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Winston Wolkoff's relationship with Melania strained after he helped Trump's inauguration worth US $ 107 million in 2017, double that of Barack Obama. The controversy arose when there was an alleged misuse of the budget that eventually led to a federal agency investigation. Winston Wolkoff claims he is just a scapegoat of decisions made by the Trump administration.
Winston Wolkoff was upset that Melania and Donald Trump were not defending her when the US newspaper the New York Times reported her company was being paid $ 26 million for her role in the presidential inauguration ceremony. However, it is said that Winston Wolkoff's book was written based on a recorded secret conversation where the First Lady criticized her husband and her husband's family members.
Winston Wolkoff admitted that he recorded a number of conversations with Melania. He said the action was taken to protect himself from accusations of misuse of the state budget. Melania's spokesperson and chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, strongly criticized the book.
"Anyone who secretly records conversations with people he calls friends is dishonest, this book is full of lies and paranoia, and is clearly based on a grudging image," Grisham said earlier this month.
