One of the reasons that Donald Trump and his family remain so inexplicably popular is that they often feel like soap opera characters brought to life. Even if you know very little about the politics involved, it’s hard not to be swept into a world filled with backstabbing, feuding, and drama.
And perhaps no Trump relationship has had more backstabbing and drama than the one between Melania Trump and her former aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. After getting fired by Melania, Wolkoff made it her personal mission to take the former First Lady down, and her latest accusation is absolutely brutal.
What’s the history of this feud, and what did Wolkoff say in her latest attempt to destroy her former friend? Keep reading to find out!
Who is Stephanie Winston Wolkoff?
At one time, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was Melania Trump’s aide. Moreover, she considered Trump to be a personal friend. The fact that they were once so close is what made their eventual falling out that much more brutal.
Interestingly enough, their relationship fell apart right when it seemed like they were getting closer. However, there was some financial controversy when it came to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017, and rightly or wrongly, it was Wolkoff that ended up taking the fall.
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What started the beef between Wolkoff and Melania Trump?
While Stephanie Wolkoff and Melania Trump had been friends for a long time, things reached a boiling point after Wolkoff and her firm were hired to plan events for Donald Trump’s 2017 presidential inauguration. As Town and Country Magazine reports, Wolkoff’s company was paid $25.8 million for their services, with Wolkoff herself allegedly receiving $1.62 million.
Eventually, there was an investigation into the spending for this event and whether money from donors was misused. This resulted in Wolkoff getting fired, with some saying that Donald and Melania Trump wanted her gone because the “unpaid” advisor allegedly spent so much money while personally getting a huge payday. Others saw her as a kind of sacrificial lamb the Trumps sacrificed in order to reduce scrutiny of Trump’s presidency.
How Wolkoff got back at Melania in a big way
While the exact circumstances surrounding Stephanie Wolkoff getting fired remain something of a mystery, one thing is clear: she was angry at the dismissal and made damned sure she didn’t take it lying down. To this end, she released a memoir with a very pointed title: Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady.
As the name implies, the memoir is arguably less about Wolkoff and more about Melania Trump. To that end, the book is filled with many wild allegations about the former First Lady. Perhaps the one that stung the most (or at least generated the most headlines) was that Melania views Ivanka as a meddling “snake.” Ouch!
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A brief legal battle
Obviously, Stephanie Wolkoff had no problems with going nuclear on Melania Trump after their falling out. In fact, her crusade continues to this day, with Wolkoff wasting no opportunity to call her friend and former employer out for anything and everything she can think of.
Of course, the Trumps aren’t used to taking criticism lying down. The family eventually tried to sue Wolkoff for violating an NDA she had signed in her rush to spill all this tea. However, the Trumps’ case was dropped in February 2021, leaving Wolkoff to continue her one-woman battle against Melania Trump.
Wolkoff’s claws came out with this latest accusation
Recently, journalist and one-time talk show host Geraldo Rivera took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and claimed that Melania Trump was getting treated poorly by the press. Stephanie Wolkoff ended up retweeting him and adding some spicy commentary about Melania Trump’s treatment by prominent media figures.
In her retweet, Wolkoff claimed that Rivera and others often “create excuses for Melania Trump, a woman who knowingly lies and covers up her family’s nefarious activities.” Wolkoff understandably took all of this personally because, as she wrote, Melania Trump did nothing when Wolkoff’s own reputation was getting dragged through the mud. At any point, the former FLOTUS could have mentioned that she testified on record that Wolkoff served “truthfully and honorably,” but she never did so.
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Wolkoff senses blood in the water
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has been consistently criticizing Melania and Donald Trump for over half a decade now. However, now that Donald Trump is fighting so many different legal battles, she seemingly senses blood in the water and has been using the Trump legal drama to hammer home her own criticism.
For example, amid Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York, Wolkoff took to X to write that “BETRAYAL is the norm in Trump World.” Continuing, she claimed that “As soon as you raise the alarm about their nefarious activities, they make sure to cast you in an unflattering light & GAG you from speaking the truth with false accusations, non-disclosure agreements, & subpoenas.”
We’re not sure what will happen next between Wolkoff and the Trumps. However, we’ve got our popcorn ready for when the next drama starts to unfold!