Melania's Former Friend Reveals Secrets About The Trump Family

When an election is fully underway, it's not uncommon for former friends and associates of the candidates to come out of the woodwork. In the case of the Trump family, a former friend and adviser to Melania Trump, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, has published a tell-all book about her relationship with the first lady. And yep, she's dropping some bombshells. Wolkoff is a fixture in New York City's high society circles, having worked at auction house Sotheby's as a receptionist and then later for Vogue, where she eventually became director of special events, according to Town & Country. Wolkoff has been friends with Melania for over a decade, and when Donald Trump ran for president, she worked on the 2016 campaign and was brought on to produce his January 2017 inauguration ceremony. Wolkoff remained friends with Melania up until February 2018, which is when reports surfaced that she had profited handsomely from producing the inauguration, according to The New York Times. Wolkoff's professional relationship with the White House was terminated — and she claimed in a statement that she was, quote, "thrown under the bus." More than two years later, the former adviser is telling her version of the truth about Melania and the Trump family. Here are some juicy picks from Wolkoff's book, Melania & Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady. One allegation concerns Melania's alleged reaction to the infamous Access Hollywood tape that leaked in 2016. Trump was caught on a hot mic in 2005, saying lewd and offensive comments about women. He told then-reporter Billy Bush that because of his status, he could make advances on women without any consent. Wolkoff claimed she and Melania had lunch the day the tape was released and recounted the experience to ABC News, saying, "Now, if any other human being or any other one of my friends, I would have expected to see them in tears, right? She was smiling as if nothing happened. And I swear to you, I had like a glitch in my brain, 'cause I was like — is this really happening at this moment, is it surreal that her husband just came out and said these horrible things?" She claimed that instead, they laughed at the notion of the offensive words and "president" being in the same sentence. In another part of the book, Wolkoff alleged that Melania said disparaging things about Donald's older children, notably Ivanka. Wolkoff claimed that Melania called Ivanka "Princess" and that they were often at odds over issues as small as where to set up offices. Ivanka's team declined to give a comment to ABC News. Wolkoff's book also includes allegations that she is working with investigators to dig into President Donald Trump's inaugural committee's activities and spending. White House reps told ABC News, "[The White House] disagrees with [her] description of this historic event. [...] [Wolkoff is trying to] profit off lies and mischaracterizations meant to harm the First Family." Wolkoff isn't backing down though, saying in her interview with ABC News about the Trump presidency, "It was amateur hour then, and it's amateur hour now, and I think it's really frightening for our country. Everyone does need to know what [...] this presidency is doing and what this propaganda machine behind this man at the White House is doing." Even before Wolkoff's book hit the shelves, Melania's chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, released a statement bashing Wolkoff and her tell-all. There's a chance Grisham might have been particularly upset by reports that Wolkoff recorded conversations with Melania to back up her claims. However, the former Vogue employee wouldn't confirm or deny the alleged secret recordings to ABC News. Grisham said, in part, "Anybody who secretly tapes their self-described best friend is by definition, dishonest. The book is not only full of mistruths and paranoia, it is based on some imagined need for revenge. [...] Sadly, this is a deeply insecure woman whose need to be relevant defies logic." The Trump team has already denied any allegations made in the book — but that hasn't stopped these anecdotes from gaining media attention. Watch the video to learn how Melania's Former Friend Reveals Secrets About The Trump Family! #MelaniaTrump #StephanieWinstonWolkoff