Even as the Trumps are no longer at the White House, more details about them begin to emerge such as the supposed rift between now-former first lady Melania Trump and her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump. Melania’s former aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff reveals another detail that may have already added to the tension between the two women from her time at the White House.
Speaking on the Mooch FM podcast, Wolkoff shared that even with Melania being the first lady, it seemed that no one in the Trump White House took her as seriously as expected. Wolkoff noted how no one in the White House expected that she would be able to do something that had an impact.
Regarding the rift between Melania and Ivanka, the author of the tell-all memoir about her friendship with Mrs. Trump titled “Melania & Me,” revealed how she had to give up her adviser salary in order to hire two more people to serve under the now-former first lady. This was, because, as Wolkoff revealed, most of the budget allotted for the first lady went to Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, who also served as an adviser to Donald Trump.
“I’m realizing Melania didn’t have a budget and didn’t really have any staff,” shared Wolkoff, noting a conversation she had with Trump’s then-deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh. “It was me interviewing everyone because Ivanka and Jared had used all of the budgets, all of the titles. Melania was left with a handful of titles and salaries that wouldn’t enable us to hire anyone with experience. So I gave up the original salary because I needed to hire two other people in order to be there and help set up the East Wing.”
Last week, the former first lady officially announced the opening of her post-White House office on Twitter. Melania retweeted the post on her personal account, marking the first time she returned to social media since her final address as first lady. Melania’s office is reportedly at Palm Beach, Florida, and will serve as an extension of her Be Best initiative that focuses on the overall well-being of children. She is set to bring back the staff that worked for her during her time at the White House.