As First Lady, Melania Trump revealed little about her life behind the scenes. But now some
former aides are spilling juicy and surprising details about her time in the White House.
Melania married Donald Trump in 2005. Being married to a famous real estate mogul brought
a new sense of fame to her life — especially after Trump won the 2016 presidential election. But
despite being in the public eye 24/7, there is still a sort of mystery that surrounds
Melania. On the outside, it may seem like she never cared about what people thought of her.
"It is not concern and focus of mine."
Melania's demeanor and behavior bewildered many who had kept tabs
on the first lady. As it turns out, however, Melania loved that.
As reported in Newsweek, a former White House aide revealed that Melania used her
quiet demeanor for protection. Not only that, but the aide claimed the
former first lady's "intentional lack of communication" would confuse the media,
while maintaining the ongoing narrative that she was mysterious.
Melania also wasn't as oblivious as many people may have thought. Stephanie Grisham,
who was a former aide to the first lady, revealed in her memoir, "I'll Take Your
Questions Now," that Melania was aware of what people had to say about her. Grisham wrote,
"Like her husband and all of his kids, Mrs. Trump scrutinized her press clippings
like an expert architect focusing on blueprints. No detail was overlooked,
nothing missed her eye. She had Google alerts set up for herself and saw everything."
After Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, there was plenty of speculation that Melania
didn't want to move from New York to the White House. In fact, the first lady avoided moving
to D.C. for nearly a year, and when she finally did, she was hardly in her office.
Stephanie Grisham wrote in her memoir that she only saw Melania
in her office a "handful of times." Grisham explained,
"When warranted, we would have in-person meetings,
but those generally took place in the Map Room across from the elevators to
the residence ... Other than that, the first lady kept to her rooms in the residence."
Melania also reportedly spent much of her time in the White House doing
self-care. Grisham revealed she hardly heard from the first lady
before 10 a.m. because she was usually sleeping. Grisham wrote in her memoir,
"She believed that relaxation was central to one's beauty regimen,
as were, of course, spa treatments and facials."
Besides self-care, Grisham claimed Melania also spent her time putting pictures of
herself into photo albums. According to Grisham, Melania found these things to be important.
"I think it's great."
During her time in the White House, Melania also had a heated relationship with her
stepdaughter Ivanka. According to CNN, Ivanka and Melania's similar desire to command the
spotlight caused tension. It also didn't help that Ivanka, who worked in the White House,
was more comfortable performing tasks for her father throughout his presidency. Ivanka
was able to speak comfortably on government issues, she knew how to work with the media,
and even became a familiar face in the administration. Melania, however,
seemed to struggle with this. Although the tension between Melania and Ivanka was mostly speculation,
a White House aide seemed to confirm the former first lady's dislike toward her stepdaughter.
Stephanie Wolkoff, former advisor to the first lady, revealed in her memoir,
"Melania and Me," that the former first lady would often refer to Ivanka as the
"princess." Melania also reportedly created an "Operation Block Ivanka" committee to keep the
first daughter out of some of the photos from Donald's 2017 inauguration ceremony.
But Wolkoff wasn't the only one to confirm the tension between the two women. In "I'll
Take Your Questions Now," Stephanie Grisham also wrote about the first lady's conflicts
with Ivanka. Grisham revealed that things would become especially tense between the two
whenever Ivanka inserted herself in foreign affairs. That said, the picture-perfect
relationship Melania and Ivanka tried to present to the media was never the truth.