Melania Trump's ex-Friend Mocks 'Ridiculous' Ivanka Claim

Melania Trump's former friend and aide has shut down suggestions that Melania has become closer to her stepdaughter, Ivanka Trump.

The claims came after former President Donald Trump was convicted in a Manhattan court of misappropriating campaign funds to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet during his 2016 election campaign about an affair they had allegedly had years earlier.

Despite not appearing at court to support her husband, Melania has apparently grown closer to his oldest daughter, Ivanka.

Page Six reported an unnamed source which claimed the guilty verdict has "brought the entire family closer together than they have ever been." As a result, it has created "a thaw in the sometimes chilly and tense relationship between Melania and Ivanka."

melania and ivanka trump standing together
Melania Trump, left, and Ivanka Trump look on as Donald Trump speaks during election night in New York on November 9, 2016. A former friend and aide has shut down suggestions that Melania has become... Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

"Words of support have overridden any past tension as the family comes together. The family has closed ranks and is behind the campaign. Friends say they haven't seen the family on the same page like this since his inauguration years ago," the source said.

But Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who knew Melania for years and was the former first lady's first hire after Trump's presidential election win, has slammed the suggestions.

"Knowing her for almost two decades, Melania Trump does not share the same headline with Ivanka for any reason...the fact that it's being written that Melania and Ivanka are on better terms [and this] has brought them closer is ridiculous," Winston Wolkoff—who has been highly critical of Melania since their relationship soured in 2018—told MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas on Sunday.

"It really is. And I wouldn't be surprised if Melania at one point does come out and say that [the claims are] not true," she said.

Winston Wolkoff added that Melania would make a habit of publicly refuting false claims about her and may speak out at some point, but until then "she's just sort of going to ride this wave," and wait to see the outcome of the other criminal indictments facing her husband.

"But not be by his side, that's not one thing that will ever not happen. She will always be there whether physically or just in the house waiting at home for him," Winston Wolkoff explained. "Her life doesn't change, people have to understand that."

Newsweek contacted Melania's representatives by email for comment.

The relationship between Winston Wolkoff and the Trump family soured when it was claimed she financially benefited from the former president's 2017 inauguration.

Reports said WIS Media Partners, Winston Wolkoff's event-planning company, received $26 million to help coordinate Trump's inauguration.

In her 2020 tell-all book, Melania and Me, the former aide said she resigned because the Trump administration scapegoated her. She denied claims that she received $26 million, saying she was paid a fee of $1.6 million.

About the writer


Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more

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