Inside the ‘Cold War’ between Donald Trump’s wife Melania and daughter Ivanka
IT is described as the White House’s “Cold War” – the increasingly bitter rivalry between US President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, and his daughter, Ivanka.
And now the juicy details of the spat have been tipped into the public domain thanks to an explosive new memoir by Melania’s former best pal.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s expose, released yesterday, sees Ivanka, 38, dubbed “Princess” and a “snake” by her stepmother Melania, 50, who believed the steely blonde businesswoman was intent on becoming the real First Lady.
Even the women’s pettiest squabbles, such as the design of the White House and who appears on the cover of Vogue magazine, are revealed in Melania And Me: The Rise And Fall Of My Friendship with the First Lady.
But Melania’s blushes are by no means spared — she is revealed as a clean freak who refused to sit on a toilet that had been used before.
And her acceptance of Trump’s alleged cheating and sexist comments is also laid bare, including how she laughed after hearing that her husband boasted of “grabbing” women by the “p****”.
Wolkoff, a wealthy US fashion executive who worked for Vogue, first met Trump’s third wife in 2003 when Slovenian-born Melania was a model in New York.
Following Trump’s shock election win in 2016, Wolkoff — who previously planned New York’s Met Gala — was drafted in to help stage events surrounding his inauguration and became a senior adviser to Melania during Trump’s first years in office.
It ensured she had a front-row seat to one of the most unorthodox presidencies and presidential couples in American history.
Large parts of the memoir are devoted to power struggles between the First Lady and Ivanka.
Just 12 years apart in age, the pair have had a frosty relationship since Melania married Trump in 2005.
Ivanka, Trump’s daughter with his first wife, former Czech model Ivana, has carved out a West Wing role for herself as a senior adviser to her dad.
Wolkoff’s book depicts constant fights between the two camps, with Ivanka accused of “sabotaging” her own stepmother from the off.
Detailing Trump’s 2017 inauguration, Wolkoff writes of Ivanka: “If she could have swapped spots with Melania, you bet she would have!
“It was Donald’s inauguration, not Ivanka’s. But no one was brave enough to tell her that.”
The day before, Trump had visited the grave of the Unknown Soldier, a monument to fallen US troops.
Melania had been incensed that Ivanka insisted on going too, believing the “First Daughter” was using it as a “photo op”.
Wolkoff and Melania then meticulously ensured Ivanka was out of shot during Trump’s swearing-in.
Wolkoff, 49, writes in her book: “Melania and I launched Operation Block Ivanka to keep her face out of that iconic ‘special moment’. We knew where the cameras would be.
“We were able to figure out whose face would be visible when Donald and Melania sat in their seats, and then when the family stood for Donald to take the oath of office.
“If Ivanka was not on the aisle, her face would be hidden while seated.”
For the standing part, two of the father-of-five’s sons — Barron, 14, and Donald Jr, 42 — were cleverly positioned.
'TWO FIRST LADIES'
Wolkoff explains: “We put Barron between Donald and Melania and made sure Don Jr stood next to Melania, not Ivanka.
“Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was petty. Melania was in on this mission.
“But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn’t have made herself the centre of attention in her father’s inauguration.”
The plan worked — with Wolkoff left in hysterics when a pal texted her a picture of Melania’s head in front of Ivanka’s at the ceremony.
Duelling between the “two First Ladies” increased when Melania took up residence in the East Wing — the traditional White House headquarters of the president’s wife.
Wolkoff says: “Media reports that the East Wing was a dark, lonely, sad, cobwebbed place started popping up. We suspected Ivanka immediately.”
Wolkoff claimed Ivanka had tried to take over offices in the East Wing.
At times she wondered: “Has Ivanka been elected president?”
The author, who was ensconced in the White House with Melania, wrote: “Ivanka was relentless and was determined to be the First Daughter Lady.
"Every day, every hour, felt to me like drawing fresh lines in the shifting sand between the two women.”
'COLD WAR FLASHPOINTS'
Wolkoff claimed Trump’s daughter was obsessed with mimicking the Kennedy dynasty and appeared to be hungry for power.
Weary Melania was said to have rolled her eyes when Ivanka once opined about being America’s first female president, mumbling under her breath: “No thank you.”
While Ivanka was known as “Princess” by Melania, her husband, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, was dubbed the “Clown Prince Jared”.
The two women’s personal battles resulted in a number of Cold War flashpoints, Wolkoff claimed.
When a report emerged that Ivanka was going to create “The First Family’s Office” in the White House, Melania stormed: “Ridiculous! This has to stop.”
Melania is also said to have flown into a rage when Vogue refused to guarantee her a cover slot — while Ivanka was courting the magazine.
Former pin-up Melania complained: “Ivanka is trying to get the White House photoshoot and profile.”
Wolkoff writes: “I’d heard as much from my sources and told Melania, ‘She’s angling for the cover!’ ”
Another time, Melania and Wolkoff were described as laughing out loud over Ivanka’s attempts to muscle in on International Women’s Day events.
The arguments sound less West Wing and more school playground.
But it wasn’t just Ivanka. Melania is alleged to have shown contempt for Trump’s whole family by branding them “snakes” in a text to Wolkoff, after they stole one of her advisers.
And when Ivanka’s mother Ivana, 71, called herself the real “first lady” in an interview, Melania is said to have snarked: “No more Mar-a-Lago for her!”, referring to Trump’s lavish Florida estate.
Wolkoff also recalls how she and the First Lady were having lunch just after the tape scandal — revealing Trump’s “grab them by the . . . ” remark — broke in October 2016.
Wolkoff wrote: “She looked at me, her blue eyes sparkling, and then she started laughing — laughing to the point where she needed to blot the tears from her eyes with her napkin.
“The laughter was more a release of tension than anything else.”
CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Fiercely private Melania is said to have brushed off Trump’s alleged affairs with other women, insisting: “I know who I married.”
At one point, Wolkoff writes, Melania dismissively referred to adult film actress Stormy Daniels — alleged to have bedded Trump during their marriage — as the “porn hooker”.
Affair claims, along with the First Lady’s apparent reluctance to hold Trump’s hand at events, have fueled conspiracy theories that she is trapped in her marriage.
But Wolkoff says the moment that sparked the #FreeMelania movement was nothing to do with her husband.
At his inauguration, Melania appeared to smile at her husband then scowl.
Wolkoff says: “Viewers assumed she only smiled when Donald was watching, and as soon as his eyes were off her, she let her true contempt show. It wasn’t at all what happened.
"Melania suddenly frowned and looked down and to her right because Barron had kicked her in the ankle by accident, she explained to me later.”
Her book also reveals how Trump’s chaotic leadership caused problems even before he assumed office.
He was said to have wanted to make his inauguration look like a rally held by dictator Kim Jong-un.
Wolkoff, married to real estate heir David Wolkoff, says Trump told her: “I want tanks and choppers. Make it look like North Korea.”
PRECIOUS MELANIA
After one temper tantrum, the President-elect fired the man overseeing the ceremony then handed the job to a 25-year-old who had come to bring him a turkey sandwich.
Wolkoff writes: “I couldn’t tell if Donald was serious . . . and that’s what made it terrifying.”
Precious Melania meanwhile was said to have demanded that she was not moving to the White House until a new toilet had been installed.
Wolkoff says: “It could have been the Queen of England’s. But Melania did not conduct her most personal business on a previously used john.”
Eventually Wolkoff was frozen out by Trump and Melania.
She left the White House in 2018 after it emerged her company had been paid almost £20million to plan the inauguration.
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But she claims she was “ghosted” by the First Lady.
Last week a video went viral, showing Melania smiling at Ivanka, before frowning as she walked past following Trump’s speech to the Republican National Convention.
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With an election two months away, the Cold War looks set to heat up.
- Melania And Me: The Rise And Fall Of My Friendship With The First Lady is out now.
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