Why the Secret Service nicknamed Melania Trump "Rapunzel"
In her book I’ll Take Your Questions Now, to be published on October 5, Stephanie Grisham, once chief of staff to the former First Lady, refers to the nickname given by the Secret Service to the wife of Donald Trump.
Was Melania Trump trapped in her ivory tower? So says Stephanie Grisham, former chief of staff to the former US first lady. In her book I'll Take Your Questions Now, to be published internationally on October 5 (Harper Editions), the one who was also Donald Trump's press secretary looks back on her years at the service of the First Lady. She mentions in particular the nickname given by the Secret Service to Barron Trump's mother, as revealed to the Washington Post on Tuesday, September 28. A nickname inspired by a famous fairy tale. Security officers called her "Rapunzel" - referring to the long-haired princess trapped in her tower - because the president's wife rarely left the White House. To the point that some of them asked to be assigned to his service, in order to be able to spend more time with their families.
Melania Trump was staying with her son and her parents Viktor and Amalija Knavs, whom she regularly brought to Washington. The former model was also working on her photo albums, explains Stephanie Grisham in her book. During the pandemic, she reportedly even spent two hours re-enacting the opening ceremony for her tennis pavilion, re-enacting the cut-out ribbon scene for better shots.
Stormy Daniels and the Military
The former spokesperson also recounts how the ex-First Lady went about "humiliating her husband" after her affair with pornstar Stormy Daniels was revealed. For the first speech of Donald Trump on the state of the union, Melania Trump thus arrived at the arm of a soldier "with the attractive appearance", selected by her assistant, because the ground was according to her "too slippery" . Which, according to Stephanie Grisham, was just a pretext to embarrass her husband. "I laughed inwardly as I had seen her riding muddy roads in heels," she adds.
"The man of music"
The former assistant also recalls the scandal caused by Melania Trump's jacket. In June 2018, during an official visit to undocumented children, the former first lady indeed wore a piece of clothing with a singular message: "I don't care, do you?" A choice that was not political, would have supported Melania Trump to her chief of staff. But following this diplomatic incident, Donald Trump is said to have summoned his wife to the Oval Office for the first time. He would have yelled at her and asked, swearing, why she had behaved like that. Before opting for an explanation of his own: this message was actually addressed to the "fake news" media.
On a lighter note, Stephanie Grisham recounts, according to the New York Times, how Donald Trump's entourage allegedly appointed a White House official known as the "man of music." His mission: to broadcast the president's favorite songs to help him calm down when he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.
Inappropriate remarks
The former chief of staff also evokes the alleged sexual misconduct of the latter. She claims that the ex-president was "obsessed" with a press secretary, whose name she does not mention. The head of state at the time reportedly constantly asked where the young woman was, and demanded that she be taken to his cabin on Air Force One so that he could "look at her behind." The former leader is said to have behaved just as badly with Stephanie Grisham herself. He would have summoned her to his cabin one day, to assure her that his penis was not small or "mushroom-shaped," as Stormy Daniels claimed. Donald Trump also reportedly asked his press secretary's boyfriend if she was good in bed.
Stephanie Grisham, however, will not resign until January 2021, outraged by the attack by supporters of Donald Trump on the Capitol on January 6. Before taking the pen to reveal the other side of the scene in a work that already has a lot of ink flow.
